module35REVIEW

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In this module, we have seen that fossil fuels have significant advantages as well as significant disadvantages. Coal is an abundant fuel that requires minimal processing and is easily transported. However, it leads to significant human health problems when mined below ground, while surface mining causes environmental damage. Coal releases more carbon dioxide per unit of energy released than do other fossil fuels. Petroleum is less abundant than coal but requires more processing. The possibility of spills is another disadvantage of petroleum. Natural gas is easily transported via pipeline and releases less carbon dioxide per unit of energy released than other fossil fuels. Its use has increased substantially in recent years for electricity generation and other purposes, mostly because of increased availability and decreased price due to fracking. In the last 50 years, estimates of fossil fuel availability and the rate at which it will be depleted have been replaced by concerns about the pollution from fossil fuels and questions about future fossil fuel energy use patterns. As we will see in the next module, there is one other conventional, nonrenewable fuel that offers a very attractive feature: It does not contribute significantly to the addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. That fuel is uranium.

Module 35 AP® Review Questions

Question 1

1. Which type of coal has the highest energy density?

  1. Lignite

  2. Peat

  3. Bituminous

  4. Anthracite

  5. Subbituminous

Question 2

2. What makes petroleum convenient to use as fuel for transportation?

  1. High energy density

  2. Clean burning

  3. Its liquid state

  1. I only

  2. I and III only

  3. II and III only

  4. III only

  5. I, II, and III

Question 3

3. Natural gas is primarily

  1. ethane.

  2. propane.

  3. butane.

  4. methane.

  5. kerosene.

Question 4

4. Bitumen is

  1. a form of liquid coal.

  2. a degraded type of petroleum.

  3. a by-product of natural gas extraction.

  4. a fast-forming fossil fuel.

  5. a petroleum product used for plastic production.

Question 5

5. The Hubbert curve predicts that

  1. peak oil will occur once half of the supply is used up.

  2. finding additional reserves could greatly increase the time to peak oil.

  3. natural gas will be cheaper than oil by the early twenty-first century.

  4. the cost of oil is independent of the world’s oil supply.

  5. coal will run out faster than oil.