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Energy Terms | |
| Glossary of Energy Terms | |
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| There are 141 entries in the glossary. | ||
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| Term | Definition | |
| BI-GAS | A process being developed as a means of making synthetic gas from coal. The synthetic gas would be intended to substitute for natural gas in meeting industrial and home energy needs. | |
| ABSORPTANCE | The ratio of the radiation absorbed by a surface to the total energy falling on that surface described as a percentage. | |
| Alternative Fuel | A popular term for "non-conventional" transportation fuels made from natural gas (propane, compressed natural gas, methanol, etc.) or biomass materials (ethanol, methanol). | |
| ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE | (AFV) -- motor vehicles that run on fuels other than petroleum-based fuels. As defined by the National Energy Policy Act (EPAct), this excludes reformulated gasoline as an alternative fuel. | |
| ALTERNATIVE FUELS | ALTERNATIVE (transportation) FUELS -- as defined by the National Energy Policy Act (EPAct) the fuels are: methanol, denatured ethanol and other alcohols, separately or in mixtures of 85 percent by volume or more (or other percentage not less than 70 percent as determined by U.S. Department of Energy rule) with gasoline or other fuels; CNG; LNG; LPG; hydrogen; "coal-derived liquid fuels;" fuels "other than alcohols" derived from "biological materials;" electricity, or any other fuel determined to be "substantially not petroleum" and yielding "substantial energy security benefits and substantial environmental benefits." | |
| BARREL | In the petroleum industry, a barrel is 42 U.S. gallons. One barrel of oil has an energy content of 6 million British thermal units. It takes one barrel of oil to make enough gasoline to drive an average car from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back (at 18 miles per gallon over the 700-mile round trip). | |
| BASE RATE | That portion of the total electric or gas rate covering the general costs of doing business unrelated to fuel expenses. | |
| BI-FUEL VEHICLE | A vehicle with two separate fuel systems designed to run on either fuel, using only one fuel at a time. These systems are advantageous for drivers who do not always have access to an alternative fuel refueling station. Bi-fuel systems are usually used in light-duty vehicles. One of the two fuels is typically an alternative fuel. | |
| BIENNIAL REPORT | The report formerly issued by the California Energy Commission to the Governor and the Legislature every odd-numbered year assessing California's energy industry. The Biennial Report is supported by four policy documents that are issued every even-numbered year: the Electricity Report, the Fuels Report, the Conservation (or Efficiency) Report and the Energy Development Report. The Biennial Report was replaced by the Integrated Energy Policy Report. | |
| BIOCONVERSION | Processes that use plants or micro-organisms to change one form of energy into another. For example, an experimental process uses algae to convert solar energy into gas that could be used for fuel. | |
| BIODIESEL | a biodegradable transportation fuel for use in diesel engines that is produced through the transesterfication of organically- derived oils or fats. It may be used either as a replacement for or as a component of diesel fuel. | |
| BIOFUELS | Fuel produced from renewable resources, especially plant biomass, vegetable oils, and treated municipal and industrial wastes. Biofuels are considered neutral with respect to the emission of carbon dioxide because the carbon dioxide given off by burning them is balanced by the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants that are grown to produce them. The use of biofuels as an additive to petroleum-based fuels can also result in cleaner burning with less emission of carbon monoxide and particulates. â—‡ Ethanol produced by fermenting the sugars in biomass materials such as corn and agricultural residues is known as bioethanol. Bioethanol is used in internal-combustion engines either in pure form or more often as a gasoline additive. â—‡ Biodiesel is made by processing vegetable oils and other fats and is also used either in pure form or as an additive to petroleum-based diesel fuel. â—‡ Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter such as sewage and municipal wastes by bacteria. It is used especially in the generation of hot water and electricity. | |
| BIOMASS | Energy resources derived from organic matter. These include wood, agricultural waste and other living-cell material that can be burned to produce heat energy. They also include algae, sewage and other organic substances that may be used to make energy through chemical processes. | |
| BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS | California Code of Regulations (California Code of Regulations), Title 24, Part 2, Chapter 2-53; regulating the energy efficiency of buildings constructed in California. | |
| BUTANE | A hydrocarbon gas found in the earth along with natural gas and oil. Butane turns into a liquid when put under pressure. It is sold as bottled gas. It is used to run heaters, stoves and motors, and to help make petrochemicals. | |
| CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION | The state agency established by the
Warren-Alquist State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act in 1974 (Public
Resources Code, Sections 25000 et seq.) responsible for energy policy. The Energy
Commission's five major areas of responsibilities are:
| |
| CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT | (CEQA - pronounced See' quah) Enacted in 1970 and amended through 1983, established state policy to maintain a high-quality environment in California and set up regulations to inhibit degradation of the environment. | |
| CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION | (CPUC) - A state agency created by constitutional amendment in 1911 to regulate the rates and services of more than 1,500 privately owned utilities and 20,000 transportation companies. The CPUC is an administrative agency that exercises both legislative and judicial powers; its decisions and orders may be appealed only to the California Supreme Court. The major duties of the CPUC are to regulate privately owned utilities, securing adequate service to the public at rates that are just and reasonable both to customers and shareholders of the utilities; including rates, electricity transmission lines and natural gas pipelines. The CPUC also provides electricity and natural gas forecasting, and analysis and planning of energy supply and resources. Its main headquarters are in San Francisco. | |
| CAPACITY | The amount of electric power for which a
generating unit, generating station, or other electrical
apparatus is rated either by the user or manufacturer. The
term is also used for the total volume of natural gas that
can flow through a pipeline over a given amount of time,
considering such factors as compression and pipeline
size. There are various types of electricity capacity.:
Installed (or Nameplate) Capacity: The total manufacturer-rated capacities of equipment such as turbines, generators, condensers, transformers, and other system components. Peaking Capacity: The capacity of generating equipment intended for operation during the hours of highest daily, weekly or seasonal loads. Purchased Capacity: The amount of energy and capacity available for purchase from outside the system Reserve Capacity: Extra generating capacity available to meet peak or abnormally high demands for power and to generate power during scheduled or unscheduled outages. Units available for service, but not maintained at operating temperature, are termed "cold." those units ready and available for service, though not in actual operation, are termed "hot." | |
| CAPACITY FACTOR | A percentage that tells how much of a power plant's capacity is used over time. For example, typical plant capacity factors range as high as 80 percent for geothermal and 70 percent for cogeneration. | |
| CAPACITY RELEASE | A secondary market for capacity that is contracted by a customer which is not using all of its capacity. | |
| CARBON DIOXIDE | A colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that is a normal part of the air. Carbon dioxide, also called CO2, is exhaled by humans and animals and is absorbed by green growing things and by the sea. | |
| CFCs | (CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS or CHLORINATED FLUOROCARBONS) - A family of artificially produced chemicals receiving much attention for their role in stratospheric ozone depletion. On a per molecule basis, these chemicals are several thousand times more effective as greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. Since they were introduced in the mid-1930s, CFCs have been used as refrigerants, solvents and in the production of foam material. The 1987 Montreal protocol on CFCs seeks to reduce their production by one-half by the year 1998. | |
| CLEAN FUEL VEHICLE | is frequently incorrectly used interchangeably with "alternative fuel vehicle." Generally, refers to vehicles that use low-emission, clean-burning fuels. Public Resources Code Section 25326 defines clean fuels, for purposes of the section only, as fuels designated by ARB for use in LEVs, ULEVs or ZEVs and include, but are not limited to, electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, natural gas, and reformulated gasoline. | |
| Climate Change | Climate change refers to any significant change in measures of climate (such as temperature, precipitation, or wind) lasting for an extended period (decades or longer). Climate change may result from:
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| Coal | Coal is formed from plant and animal matter that has been subjected to geologic heat and pressure, transformed over millions of years into hard black solids. Because coal is a readily available resource in the United States, coal power plants provide about half of the nation's electricity. However, coal-fired power plants generally cause more pollution per unit of electricity than any other fuel. Most coal plants are required to have several pollution control devices to reduce the amount of pollutants that are released into the air from burning the coal. These controls have played an important role in cleaning up air quality in many areas of the country. | |
| COAL CONVERSION | Changing coal into synthetic gas or liquid fuels. See GASIFICATION. | |
| COGENERATION | Cogeneration means the sequential use of energy for the
production of electrical and useful thermal energy. The sequence
can be thermal use followed by power production or the reverse,
subject to the following standards: (a) At least 5 percent of the cogeneration project's total annual energy output shall be in the form of useful thermal energy. (b) Where useful thermal energy follows power production, the useful annual power output plus one-half the useful annual thermal energy output equals not less than 42.5 percent of any natural gas and oil energy input. | |
| Combined Heat and Power | Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, is an efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single fuel source. CHP is not a specific technology but an application of technologies to meet an energy user's needs. CHP systems achieve typical effective electric efficiencies of 50 to 80 percent — a dramatic improvement over the average efficiency of separate heat and power. Since CHP is highly efficient, it reduces traditional air pollutants and carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas associated with climate change. Visit EPA's Combined Heat and Power
Partnership web site for additional information. | |
| Dependable Capacity | The systems's ability to carry the electric power for the time inrval and period specific, when related to the characteristics of the load to be supplied. Dependable capacity is determined by such factors as capability, operating power factor, weather, and portion of the load the station is to supply. | |
| DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION | Production of electricity from an energy source without transferring the energy to a working fluid or steam. For example, photovoltaic cells transform light directly into electricity. Direct conversion systems have no moving parts and usually produce direct current. | |
| DIRECT EXPANSION | (refrigeration) - Any system that, in operation between an environment where heat is absorbed (heat source), and an environment into which unwanted heat is directed (heat sink) at two different temperatures, is able to absorb heat from the heat source at the lower temperature and reject heat to the heat sink at the higher temperature. The cooling effect is obtained directly from a fluid called a refrigerant that absorbs heat at a low temperature and pressure, and transfers heat at a higher temperature and higher pressure. | |
| DIRECT SOLAR GAIN | Solar energy collected from the sun (as heat) in a building through windows, walls, skylights, etc. | |
| District Energy | Production of steam, hot water or chilled water, or any combination including all three, at a single central utility plant for distribution to other buildings through a network of pipes. | |
| DOE | (U.S.) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (US DOE) -- The federal department established by the Department of Energy Organization Act to consolidate the major federal energy functions into one cabinet-level department that would formulate a comprehensive, balanced national energy policy. DOE's main headquarters are in Washington, D.C. | |
| ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY | A term that refers to the optimal production and consumption of goods and services. This generally occurs when prices of products and services reflect their marginal costs. Economic efficiency gains can be achieved through cost reduction, but it is better to think of the concept as actions that promote an increase in overall net value (which includes, but is not limited to, cost reductions). | |
| ENERGY EFFICIENCY | Using less energy/electricity to perform the same function. Programs designed to use electricity more efficiently - doing the same with less. For the purpose of this paper, energy efficiency is distinguished from DSM programs in that the latter are utility-sponsored and -financed, while the former is a broader term not limited to any particular sponsor or funding source. "Energy conservation" is a term which has also been used but it has the connotation of doing without in order to save energy rather than using less energy to do the some thing and so is not used as much today. Many people use these terms interchangeably. | |
| EPA | The Environmental Protection Agency. A federal agency charged with protecting the environment. | |
| EPAct | The Energy Policy Act of 1992 addresses a wide variety of energy issues. The legislation creates a new class of power generators, exempt wholesale generators (EWGs), that are exempt from the provisions of the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935 and grants the authority to FERC to order and condition access by eligible parties to the interconnected transmission grid. | |
| ETHANOL | (also know as Ethyl Alcohol or Grain Alcohol, CH3CH2OH) - a liquid that is produced chemically from ethylene or biologically from the fermentation of various sugars from carbohydrates found in agricultural crops and cellulosic residues from crops or wood. Used in the United States as a gasoline octane enhancer and oxygenate, it increases octane 2.5 to 3.0 numbers at 10 percent concentration. Ethanol can also be used in higher concentration (E85) in vehicles optimized for its use. | |
| EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGE | (EHV) - Voltage levels higher than those normally used on transmission lines. Generally EHV is considered to be 345,000 volts or higher. | |
| FOSSIL FUELS | Oil, coal, natural gas or their by-products. Fuel that was formed in the earth in prehistoric times from remains of living-cell organisms. | |
| FUEL CELL | A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, with water and heat as its by-product. As long as fuel is supplied, the fuel cell will continue to generate power. Since the conversion of the fuel to energy takes place via an electrochemical process, not combustion, the process is clean, quiet and highly efficient – two to three times more efficient than fuel burning. No other energy generation technology offers the combination of benefits that fuel cells do. In addition to low or zero emissions, benefits include high efficiency and reliability, multi-fuel capability, siting flexibility, durability, sand ease of maintenance. Fuel cells are also scalable and can be stacked until the desired power output is reached. Since fuel cells operate silently, they reduce noise pollution as well as air pollution and the waste heat from a fuel cell can be used to provide hot water or space heating for a home or office. | |
| FUEL CELLS | One or more cells capable of generating an electrical current by converting the chemical energy of a fuel (e.g., hydrogen) directly into electrical energy. Fuel cells differ from conventional electrical cells in that the active materials such as fuel and oxygen are not contained within the cell but are supplied from outside. | |
| FUEL GAS | Synthetic gas used for heating or cooling. It has less energy content than pipeline-quality gas. | |
| GASOHOL | In the United States, gasohol (E10) refers to gasoline that contains 10 percent ethanol by volume. This term was used in the late 1970s and early 1980s but has been replaced in some areas of the country by terms such as E-10, Super Unleaded Plus Ethanol, or Unleaded Plus. | |
| GEOTHERMAL | Relating to the internal heat of the Earth. The water of hot springs and geysers is heated by geothermal sources. Geothermal energy is power generated from natural steam, hot water, hot rocks, or lava in the Earth's crust. In general, geothermal power is produced by pumping water into cracks in the Earth's crust and then conveying the heated water or steam back to the surface so that its heat can be extracted through a heat exchanger, or its pressure can be used to drive turbines. | |
| GEOTHERMAL ELEMENT | an element of a county general plan consisting of a statement of geothermal development policies, including a diagram or diagrams and text setting forth objectives, principles, standards, and plan proposals, including a discussion of environmental damages and identification of sensitive environmental areas, including unique wildlife habitat, scenic, residential, and recreational areas, adopted pursuant to Section 65303 of the Government Code. GEOTHERMAL ENERGY -- Natural heat from within the earth, captured for production of electric power, space heating or industrial steam. | |
| GEOTHERMAL ENERGY | power generated from natural steam, hot water, hot rocks, or lava in the Earth's crust. In general, geothermal power is produced by pumping water into cracks in the Earth's crust and then conveying the heated water or steam back to the surface so that its heat can be extracted through a heat exchanger, or its pressure can be used to drive turbines. | |
| GIGAWATT | (GW) -- One thousand megawatts (1,000 MW) or, one million kilowatts (1,000,000 kW) or one billion watts (1,000,000,000 watts) of electricity. One gigawatt is enough to supply the electric demand of about one million average California homes. | |
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