Glossary

From Lauraibm

Glossary

• carbon dioxide equivalent, (CO₂e) n. a measure applied to other greenhouse gases, measuring their global warming potential expressed in terms of the mass of CO₂ that would produce the same effect.
• carbon footprint n. the total amount of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases, emitted over the life-cycle of a product or service. Businesses tend to include the CO₂ emitted during their activities, but exclude full life-cycle effects such as the construction and eventual demolition of the office buildings they use.
• carbon neutrality n. the state in which an organisation's or individual's net carbon emissions are zero, achieved through a combination of carbon offsetting and/or using renewable energy. (NB There is no universally accepted definition of carbon neutral.)
• carbon offsetting n. the act of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. A well-known example is the planting of trees to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions from personal air travel. The benefit of this is that trees absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, so a growing forest will reduce atmospheric CO₂ levels. (NB There is no universally accepted definition of carbon offsetting.)
• carbon trading n. the control of CO₂ emissions through economic incentives. A central authority—usually a government or supra-national agency—sets a limit on the amount of pollutant each company or country can emit. Companies that pollute beyond their allowances must buy credits from those who pollute less than their allowances—or face heavy penalties.
• climate change n. the variation in the Earth's climate over time. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth, external forces (e.g. variations in sunlight intensity) or, more recently, human activities. In recent usage, the term may refer only to changes in modern climate, including the rise in average surface temperature known as global warming. In some cases, the term is also used with a presumption of human causation.
• combined heat and power (CHP) n. the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat. Conventional power plants emit the heat created as a by-product of electricity generation into the environment through cooling towers, as flue gas, or by other means. CHP captures the by-product heat for domestic or industrial heating purposes, either very close to the plant, or—especially in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe—for distribution through pipes to heat local housing.
• environmental management accounting n. the identification, collection, estimation, analysis, internal reporting, and use of materials and energy flow information, environmental cost information, and other cost information for both conventional and environmental decision-making within an organization.
• environmental sustainability n. the characteristic of a process that can be continued indefinitely without permanent damage to the environment; the assessment that a project's outputs can be produced without permanent and unacceptable impact on the natural environment. (See also sustainable development.)
• global warming n. the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades, and its projected continuation.
• greenhouse effect n. the process by which the atmosphere captures and recycles energy emitted by the Earth's surface. The name comes from an analogy with the warming of air inside a greenhouse compared to the air outside the greenhouse.
• greenhouse gases n. the components of the atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, while others result from human activities such as burning of fossil fuels such as coal. Greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.
• green politics n. a political ideology which places a high importance on ecological and environmentalist goals, and on achieving these goals through broad-based, grassroots, participatory democracy and a consensus decision-making.
• greenwashing n. the behaviour of companies in putting a positive green image on environmentally unsound activities.
• hydropower n. the energy captured from moving water for some useful purpose.
• nuclear power n. electrical energy generated using the heat produced by an atomic reaction.
• peak oil n. the point at which the maximum global petroleum production rate is reached. After this timeframe, the rate of production will, by definition, enter terminal decline. According to the Hubbert model, production will follow a roughly symmetrical bell-shaped curve. Some observers believe that because of the high dependence of most modern industrial transport, agricultural and industrial systems on inexpensive oil, the decline and possible resulting severe price increases will have negative implications for the global economy.
• renewable energy n. energy derived from resources that are regenerative or for all practical purposes cannot be depleted. For this reason, renewable energy sources are fundamentally different from fossil fuels, and do not produce as many greenhouse gases and other pollutants as fossil fuel combustion.
• solar power n. a source of energy that uses radiation emitted by the Sun. It is a renewable energy source that has been used in many traditional technologies for centuries. It is also in widespread use where other power supplies are absent, such as in remote locations and in space.
• sustainable development n. development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (See also environmental sustainability.)
• tidal power n. a form of hydro-power that exploits the rise and fall in sea levels due to the tides, or the movement of water caused by the tidal flow. Because the tidal forces are caused by interaction between the gravity of the Earth, Moon and Sun, tidal power is essentially inexhaustible and classified as a renewable energy source.
• wave power n. the energy of ocean surface waves and the capture of that energy to do useful work - including electricity generation, desalination, and the pumping of water (into reservoirs). Wave power is a form of renewable energy. Wave power is distinct from the diurnal flux of tidal power and the steady gyre of ocean currents. Wave power generation is not a widely employed technology, and no commercial wave farm has yet been established.
• WEEE n. the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive aims to minimise the impact of electrical and electronic goods on the environment, by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfill. It seeks to achieve this by making producers responsible for financing the collection, treatment, and recovery of waste electrical equipment, and by obliging distributors to allow consumers to return their waste equipment free of charge.
• wind power n. the conversion of wind energy into more useful forms, usually electricity, using wind turbines.
• zero carbon a. having zero net emissions of CO₂. (See also carbon neutral.)