Design Our Climate Simulation
Definitions
- agave
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Agave is a family of short, spiky plants native to the southern USA and Mexico. Traditionally, extracts of agave are used to make Tequila, but agave is also being researched as a large-scale source of ethanol for use in biofuels.
- alternative energy
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Much of the world's electricity is generated from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, or natural gas; so alternative energy in this case refers to sources of electricity that do not burn fossil fuels as a primary energy source.
- ammonia
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Ammonia is a colourless gas with chemical formula NH3.
- anthropogenic
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Caused by humans.
- aviation
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Aviation refers to transportation by air.
- battery
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A battery stores electrical energy in a chemical form.
- behavioral
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To do with people's behavior.
- binary cycle
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A binary cycle geothermal power plant uses warm water from underground to vaporize a low-boiling compound, which then is used to generate electricity. This is different from traditional geothermal power plants, in which the water itself is vaporised.
- biodiversity
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The variation of all life on earth.
- biogenic
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Produced from living things.
- biogeochemical cycle
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Pathways by which substances and chemical elements cycle through our planet's living and non-living systems.
- biomass
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Any organic matter that is available on a renewable basis and includes feedstock derived from animals or plants, including but not limited to wood and agricultural crops, and organic waste from municipal or industrial sources.
- butane
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Butane is a small hydrocarbon with the formula C4H10.
- calibration
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Adjusting an output so that it matches a known value.
- carbon capture and storage (CCS)
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A variety of technologies that capture CO2 from industrial processes, and either store or use the CO2 for other processes such as CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
- carbon density
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How much carbon or carbon dioxide is stored in a certain amount of space or area.
- carbon dioxide
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a common greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere by burning carbon-based fuel and numerous other processes.
- carbon intensity
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The carbon intensity of a thing or process is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions it produces relative to a measurement of activity - for example, per distance driven, or per amount of electricity produced. Low carbon intensity means less greenhouse gas emissions per unit of activity.
- carbon handprint
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In analogy to the carbon footprint measuring your personal contributions to climate change, your carbon handprint represents your active contributions to climate change mitigation.
- carbon neutral
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Not releasing any carbon; or absorbing as much carbon as is released.
- carsharing
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A mode of car rental where individuals can rent cars for short periods of time, often from the owners of the car, and facilitated through an app or website.
- chlorofluorocarbon
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Chlorofluorocarbons (CFnClm) are a broad group of human-made compounds that contain carbon, chlorine and/or fluorine. They have been used as refrigerants and aerosol propellants, and they are potent greenhouse gases and ozone depleters.
- cropland
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An area of land being used to grow food crops or other agricultural products.
- climate change
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Statistically significant changes to Earth's weather patterns that occur over long periods of time, from decades to millions of years.
- CO2 eq
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Carbon dioxide equivalents describe the amount of CO2 that would have the same global warming potential for a given mixture of greenhouse gas.
- coal
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Coal is a naturally occurring solid hydrocarbon mineral that can be burned as a fuel.
- commercial
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A commercial building is used for business or industry, not as a home for people.
- compact fluorescent light
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A compact fluorescent light (CFL) runs an electrical current through a gas filled tube to produce light.
- conservative
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An estimate that is careful about being too high; typically deliberately lower than what the value actually is.
- decommissioning
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Decommissioning refers to closing and demolishing a facility, and safely disposing of the debris.
- dependencies
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The electricity distribution system refers to the infrastructure that transfers electricity from the generating station to where the electricity will be used. It includes transmission cables, transformers, and any electricity storage systems in use.
- efficiency
- electricity
- electrolysis
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Electrolysis refers to the use of an electric current to drive a chemical reaction.
- erosion
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The process of being worn away by wind, water, or other processes.
- ethane
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Ethane is a small hydrocarbon with the formula C2H6.
- ethanol
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Ethanol is a small organic alcohol with the chemical formula C2H6O. It can be produced from the fermentation of plant matter.
- feedstock
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A feedstock is a raw material used in an industrial process.
- fission
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Fission is the process by which a nucleus breaks apart into two smaller nuclei, releasing energy.
- floor area
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The floor area of a building is the sum of the floor area of each of the floors in a building.
- fly ash
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Fly ash is a fine power that is a byproduct of coal combustion.
- forest
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A forest refers to a large area of trees and other vegetation.
- fossil fuel
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A fuel formed over millions of years from decayed organic matter. Includes coal, oil, and natural gas.
- freight
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Goods typically transported by truck, boat, or train
- fuel consumption
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Fuel consumption is the amount of fuel it takes to drive a vehicle a given distance. Fuel economy, a related term, is the distance a vehicle can drive on a certain amount of fuel.
- gasoline
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Gasoline is a common vehicle fuel. It is mostly hydrocarbons, with many other additives.
- geothermal
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Thermal energy that is generated and stored in the Earth.
- gigatonne
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A gigatonne (Gt) is one billion tonnes, or 1015 grams. Typically, concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is measured in parts per million (ppm), whereas Gt of carbon is used for amounts of carbon flux and storage.
- greenhouse gas
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Greenhouse gases are gases that store heat in the atmosphere. The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. Water is also a greenhouse gas, though it circulates through our atmosphere differently since it is predominantly a liquid or solid at atmospheric temperatures. Carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2 eq, is a unit related to the global warming potential (GWP) of greenhouse gases.
- grid connected
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A system of photovoltaic electricity production that is connected to the utility grid. This way, if an excess of electricity is produced, other can use it, and electricity from the grid can be used in times of low or no light to produce solar electricity.
- hydrochlorofluorocarbons
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Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (CHFnCl) are a group of human-made chemical compounds similar to CFCs, but with one or more hydrogen atoms. HCFCs are ozone-depleting gases used as refrigerants for air conditioning and refrigertors.
- heat pumps
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A device which transfers heat energy from its source to a heat sink by absorbing heat from a warm space and releasing it to a cooler one.
- hydrofluorocarbon
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Hydrofluorocarbons (CHFn) are a group of human-made chemical compounds used to replace ozone-depleting gases, such as CFCs and HCFCs, for cooling and refrigeration. Although HFCs are not ozone-depleting, they are strong greenhouse gases, whose emissions are increasing.
- incandescent
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Something emitting light because it is heated. An incandescent light bulb applies an electric current to a tungsten filament, causing it to emit light.
- illumination
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Producing light
- Industrial Revolution
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A period from about 1760 to 1840 where manufacturing of good moved from small shops to large factories.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
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An intergovernmental body of the United Nations for assessing the science related to climate change.
- lifecycle emissions
Emissions over all stages of production, transportation, and use of a product. .- lifetime
The lifetime of building is the amount of time from its construction to demolition.- light emitting diode
A light emitting diode (LED) uses electricity flowing across a semiconductor junction to generate light.- marine transportation
Marine transportation refers to transportation by boat.- medium variant projection
The median of thousands of possible demographic trajectories, taking the variability of changes with time into account.- methane
Methane (CH4) is the simplest hydrocarbon. It is released by decaying biomass, among other sources, and is a greenhouse gas.- minetailings
The ore waste of mines. The storage of mine tailings is an environmental issue because of their toxicity.- mitigate
To make less serious or painful. In this case, mitigation refers to human intervention intended to reduce or undo the effects of climate change.- molar mass
The mass of a substance (in grams) divided by the amount of that substance (in moles).- multisolving
The process of intentionally addressing more than one societal issue with a single solution.- natural gas
A naturally occurring fossil fuel gas containing mostly light hydrocarbons with small amounts of other gases.- negligible
Small and insignificant.- net zero
The amount being produced is being used elsewhere, resulting in no overall change.- nitrogen oxides
Common nitrogen oxides include nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). They are greenhouse gases and have impacts on human health.- nitrous oxide
An ozone-depleting greenhouse gas with the chemical formula N2O.- octane
Octane is a liquid hydrocarbon with the chemical formula C8H18.- ozone
Ozone (O3) is a colourless gas. When present in the stratosphere, ozone blocks incoming ultraviolet radiation; but at ground level, ozone is a serious air pollutant.- photovoltaic
Photovoltaic solar cells use layers of semiconductors to generate electricity from sunlight.- photocatalytic
Photocatalytic solar technologies use sunlight to drive a chemical reaction to produce electricity or fuels.- propane
Propane is a small hydrocarbon with the formula C3H8.- perennial
Perennial crops are crops that do not need to be replanted every year. These plants will grow back after being harvested. Perennial crops can reduce soil erosion, and improve carbon sequestration, as the soil does not need to be tilled every year.- qualitative
Referring to some characteristic or quality of an object.- quantitative
Referring to the number or quantity of an object.- rail transportation
Rail transportation refers to transportation by train.- RCP
The Representative Concentration Pathways are a series of possible climate futures used for climate modeling and research. The four scenarios are RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5; the number indicates the increase in radiative forcing between pre-industrial times and 2100, in units of W/m2. RCP8.5 represents the worst case scenario in which global carbon emissions continue to increase without mitigation; whereas RCP2.6 sees global carbon emissions drop to zero by 2090.- renewable
Sources of energy that are regenerated or regrown on the order of years.- reservoir
A reservoir is a large artificial lake. Hydroelectric power can be generated by allowing water to flow out of a reservoir and through a turbine.- residential
A residential building is a building in which people live.- resilient
Able to withstand or bounce back from difficult conditions.- rice paddy
A rice paddy is a flooded field in which rice is grown.- ridesharing
Similar to carpooling, ridesharing is when a group of people make arrangements to ride in the same car, typically when arranged by a mobile application or website.- run-of-river
A run-of-river hydroelectric power plant uses the natural flow of a river or stream to generate electricity, without the use of large reservoir.- sequestration
In the context of climate change mitigation, sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric CO2.- sphere of concern
Your sphere of concern refers to all beings and things you care about or take an interest in.- sphere of control
Your sphere of control includes your own actions which you have direct control or power over.- sphere of influence
Your sphere of influence includes the things and beings that are impacted by you.- subjective
Based on an individual's personal perception, beliefs, or feelings.- sulfur hexafluoride
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a dense, odourless gas. It is used in various industrial applications, and is a potent greenhouse gas.- sustainable
Able to be used without degradation or depletion of natural resources.- socioeconomic
The relation between social standing and economic factors, often involving the measurement of income and education.- solar concentrator
Solar concentrator technologies use mirrors or lenses to focus sunlight onto a point. This increases the efficiency of other solar technologies at that point.- solar flux
The amount of sunlight that falls on a certain area of ground.- solar thermal
Solar thermal technologies use sunlight to produce heat, which can be used to generate electricity or serve other purposes.- technological
Related to technology.- terrawatt-hour
A unit of energy equal to one trillion watts acting for one hour. This is about the energy required to keep about 114 thousand 100W lightbulbs on for one year. - terrestrial
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On land.
- thermodynamics
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We can model a coal-fired power plant as a Carnot engine: an idealized heat engine that transfers energy from a hot object to a cold object and does work in the process. The efficiency of a Carnot engine is determined by the temperature of the hot and cold objects (in kelvin): eff=1-(Tcold/Thot).
- tidal hydroelectric
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Tidal hydroelectricity uses the flow of the tides to generate electricity.
- tillage
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Tillage refers to act of plowing soil in preparation for planting seeds.
- thorium
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Thorium is a dense, radioactive metal. Thorium-233 is being studied as a replacement for uranium-235 in nuclear power plants.
- tritium
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Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen with two neutrons, making it unstable and radioactive.
- uranium
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Uranium is a dense, radioactive metal. One isotope of uranium, uranium-235, is used as fuel in nuclear power plants.
- variable
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Variability refers to changes in electricity production that are not controlled by humans, resulting from natural fluctuations in resource availability.
- ventilation
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Ventilation refers to the process of moving air into or out of a building.
- watt
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A watt (W) is a measure of energy transfer; one watt is equal to one joule per second.
- wave hydroelectric
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Wave hydroelectricity uses the energy of waves on oceans or large lakes to generate electricity.
- 2015 Paris Agreement
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An agreement made at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that recognized the urgency for climate change mitigation. The main focus of the agreement is to limit the global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and aim for 1.5 degrees Celsius.
A measure of how much output can be achieved from a certain input.
Electricity refers to electrical energy, energy transferred by moving
electrical charges.
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