Nonrenewable Energy & Fossil Fuels — Drills · Grade 12 Science

Chapter: Energy, Water & Material Resources

What these drills covers

By the end of Nonrenewable Energy & Fossil Fuels you should be able to:

6 questions, multiple choice, numeric and written answer, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: fossil fuel, combustion, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), nuclear fission.

Problem 1

Which of these is NOT a fossil fuel?
  1. Coal
  2. Uranium
  3. Oil
  4. Natural gas
Answer and explanation

Uranium

Uranium is a nuclear fuel used in fission, not a fossil fuel. Coal, oil, and natural gas are the fossil fuels.

Problem 2

Coal, oil, and natural gas all formed from...
  1. plants that died in the last few years
  2. cooling volcanic lava
  3. the buried remains of ancient organisms transformed over millions of years
  4. dissolved ocean salt
Answer and explanation

the buried remains of ancient organisms transformed over millions of years

Fossil fuels are ancient organic matter (swamp plants for coal, marine plankton for oil and gas) buried and cooked over millions of years.

Problem 3

A natural gas plant emits about 0.9 lb of CO2 per kWh. How many pounds of CO2 does it release to generate 5,000 kWh?
Answer and explanation

4500 lb

0.9 lb/kWh x 5,000 kWh = 4,500 lb of CO2.

Problem 4

A major advantage of nuclear power over fossil fuels is that it...
  1. is a renewable resource
  2. produces no waste of any kind
  3. uses no fuel at all
  4. emits almost no CO2 while generating electricity
Answer and explanation

emits almost no CO2 while generating electricity

Nuclear fission releases almost no CO2 during operation. It is still nonrenewable, however, and it does produce radioactive waste.

Problem 5

Explain one environmental drawback of extracting oil or gas by hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
Answer and explanation

Fracking injects large volumes of high-pressure fluid underground to crack open shale, which can contaminate nearby groundwater with chemicals or escaped gas, uses a great deal of water, produces chemical-laden wastewater that must be disposed of, and has been linked to small human-caused earthquakes.

Problem 6

Coal emits about 2.2 lb of CO2 per kWh and natural gas about 0.9 lb per kWh. How many pounds of CO2 are avoided by generating 10,000 kWh with natural gas instead of coal?
Answer and explanation

13000 lb

Coal: 2.2 x 10,000 = 22,000 lb. Gas: 0.9 x 10,000 = 9,000 lb. Avoided: 22,000 - 9,000 = 13,000 lb.

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