Glossary

Energy glossary

747 definitions · page 6 of 13.

FLUE GAS: Gas that is left over after fuel is burned and which is disposed of through a pipe or stack to the outer air.
FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION: A process for burning powdered coal that is poured in a liquid-like stream with air or gases. The process reduces sulfur dioxide emissions from coal combustion.
FLUORESCENT LAMP: A tubular electric lamp that is coated on its inner surface with a phosphor and that contains mercury vapor whose bombardment by electrons from the cathode provides ultraviolet light which causes the phosphor to emit visible light either of a selected color…
FLUOROCARBON GASES: Propellants used in aerosol products and refrigerants that are believed to be causing depletion of the earth's ozone shield. See CFCs.
FOOTCANDLE: A unit of illuminance on a surface that is one foot from a uniform point source of light of one candle and is equal to one lumen per square foot.
FORCED AIR UNIT (FAU): A central furnace equipped with a fan or blower that provides the primary means for circulation of air.
FOSSIL FUEL: Oil, coal, natural gas or their by-products. Fuel that was formed in the earth in prehistoric times from remains of living-cell organisms.
FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION: the process of refining crude oil into various oil products. The various products are separated out in the order of their boiling points.
FRAMING EFFECTS: The effect of framing (wood or metal studs, joists, beams, etc.) on the overall U-value of a wall, roof, floor, window or other building surface. Framing generally increases the U-Value and decreases the R-Value of insulated surfaces.
FRAMING PERCENTAGE: The area of actual framing in an envelope assembly divided by the overall area of the envelope assembly. This percentage is used to calculate the overall U-value of an assembly.
FREQUENCY: The number of cycles which an alternating current moves through in each second. Standard electric utility frequency in the United States is 60 cycles per second, or 60 Hertz.
FUEL: A substance that can be used to produce heat.
FUEL CELL: A device or an electrochemical engine with no moving parts that converts the chemical energy of a fuel, such as hydrogen, and an oxidant, such as oxygen, directly into electricity. The principal components of a fuel cell are catalytically activated…
FUEL GAS: Synthetic gas used for heating or cooling. It has less energy content than pipeline-quality gas.
FUEL OIL: Petroleum products that are burned to produce heat or power.
FUEL REPROCESSING (Nuclear): The means for obtaining usable, fissionable material from spent reactor fuel.
FUEL ROD (Nuclear): A long slender tube that holds fissionable material (fuel) for nuclear reactor use. Fuel rods are assembled into bundles called fuel elements or assemblies, which are loaded individually into the reactor core.
FUSION ENERGY: A power source, now under development, based on the release of energy that occurs when atoms are combined under the most extreme heat and pressure. It is the energy process of the sun and the stars.
GALLON: A unit of volume. A U.S. gallon has 231 cubic inches or 3.785 liters.
GAS: Gaseous fuel (usually natural gas) that is burned to produce heat energy. The word also is used, colloquially, to refer to gasoline.
GAS SYNTHESIS: A method producing synthetic gas from coal. Also called the FISCHER-TROPSCH PROCESS.
GAS UTILITY: any person engaged in, or authorized to engage in, distributing or transporting natural gas, including, but not limited to, any such person who is subject to the regulation of the Public Utilities Commission. GASIFICATION -- The process where biomass fuel is…
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…
GASOLINE: A light petroleum product obtained by refining oil, and used as motor vehicle fuel.
GENERAL LIGHTING: Lighting designed to provide a substantially uniform level of illumination throughout an area, exclusive of any provision for special visual tasks or decorative effects. [See California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Section 2-5302]
GENERATION COMPANY (GENCO): A regulated or non-regulated entity (depending upon the industry structure) that operates and maintains existing generating plants. The Genco may own the generation plants or interact with the short term market on behalf of plant owners. In the context of…
GENERATION DISPATCH AND CONTROL: Aggregating and dispatching (sending off to some location) generation from various generating facilities, providing backups and reliability services. Ancillary services include the provision of reactive power, frequency control, and load following.(Also see…
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…
GEOTHERMAL GRADIENT: The change in the earth's temperature with depth. As one goes deeper, the earth becomes hotter.
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.
GIGAWATT-HOUR (GWH): One million kilowatt-hours of electric power. California's electric utilities generated a total of about 270,000 gigawatt-hours in 1988.
GLAZING: A covering of transparent or translucent material (typically glass or plastic) used for admitting light.
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: Gradual changing of global climates due to buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere. Carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels has reached levels greater than what can be absorbed by green plants and the seas.
GREENHOUSE EFFECT: The presence of trace atmospheric gases make the earth warmer than would direct sunlight alone. These gases (carbon dioxide [CO2], methane [CH4], nitrous oxide [N2O], tropospheric ozone [O3], and water vapor [H2O]) allow visible light and ultraviolet light…
GREENHOUSE EFFECT (relating to buildings): The characteristic tendency of some transparent materials (such as glass) to transmit radiation with relatively short wavelengths (such as sunlight) and block radiation of longer wavelengths (such as heat). This tendency leads to a heat build-up within the…
GRID: A system of interconnected power lines and generators that is managed so that the generators are dispatched as needed to meet the requirements of the customers connected to the grid at various points. Gridco is sometimes used to identify an independent…
GROSS AREA: The area of a surface including areas not belonging to that surface (such as windows and doors in a wall).
GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT (GNP): The total market value of the goods and services produced by a nation before deduction or depreciation charges and other allowance for capital consumption and is widely used as a measure of economic activity.
H-COAL PROCESS: A means of making coal cleaner so it will produce less ash and less sulfur emissions.
HEAT BALANCE: The outdoor temperature at which a building's internal heat gain (from people, lights and machines) is equal to the heat loss through windows, roof and walls.
HEAT CAPACITY: The amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of a given mass one degree. Heat capacity may be calculated by multiplying the mass by the specific heat.
HEAT GAIN: an increase in the amount of heat contained in a space, resulting from direct solar radiation, heat flow through walls, windows, and other building surfaces, and the heat given off by people, lights, equipment, and other sources.
HEAT LOSS: A decrease in the amount of heat contained in a space, resulting from heat flow through walls, windows, roof and other building surfaces and from exfiltration of warm air.
HEAT PUMP: An air-conditioning unit which is capable of heating by refrigeration, transferring heat from one (often cooler) medium to another (often warmer) medium, and which may or may not include a capability for cooling. This reverse-cycle air conditioner usually…
HEAT RATE: A number that tells how efficient a fuel-burning power plant is. The heat rate equals the Btu content of the fuel input divided by the kilowatt-hours of power output.
HEAT STORM: Heat storms occur when temperatures exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit over a large area for three days in a row. Normal hot temperatures cause electricity demand to increase during the peak summertime hours of 4 to 7 p.m. when air conditioners are straining to…
HEAT TRANSFER: Flow of heat energy induced by a temperature difference. Heat flow through a building envelope typically flows from a heated, or hot area to a cooled, or cold area.
HEATING DEGREE DAY: A unit that measure the space heating needs during a given period of time.
HEATING LOAD: The rate at which heat must be added to a space in order to maintain the desired temperature within the space.
HEATING SEASONAL PERFORMANCE FACTOR: A representation of the total heating output of a central air-conditioning heat pump in Btus during its normal usage period for heating, divided by the total electrical energy input in watt-hours during the same period, as determined using the test procedure…
HEATING VALUE: The amount of heat produced by the complete combustion of a given amount of fuel.
HEAVY WATER: A type of hydrogen atom that may be used as fuel for fusion power plants. Also called DEUTERIUM, it is found in abundance in the seas.
HEDGING CONTRACTS: Contracts which establish future prices and quantities of electricity independent of the short-term market. Derivatives may be used for this purpose. (See Contracts for Differences, Forwards, Futures Market, and Options.)
HELIOCHEMICAL: Using solar radiation to cause chemical reactions.
HELIOTHERMAL: A process that uses the sun's rays to produce heat.
HERTZ: A unit of electromagnetic wave frequency that is equal to one cycle per second. - It is named after Henrich R. Hertz.
HIGH-SULFUR COAL: Coal whose weight is more than one percent sulfur.
HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (HEAP): A centrally operated direct payment program that assists eligible households in offsetting the cost of heating and cooling their homes. Payments are generally made in the form of dual party warrants (checks) made payable to the applicant and their designated…
HORSEPOWER (HP): A unit for measuring the rate of doing work. One horsepower equals about three-fourths of a kilowatt (745.7 watts).
HOT: (Colloquial) - The word is sometimes used to describe electric utility lines that are carrying electric currently. It also is used to refer to anything that is highly radioactive.