ESRU

Glossary

Carbon dioxide (CO2): A heavy colourless gas CO 2 that does not support combustion, dissolves in water to form carbonic acid, is formed especially in animal respiration and in the decay or combustion of animal and vegetable matter, is absorbed from the air by plants in photosynthesis, and is used in the carbonation of beverages

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) : CFD is the broad topic encompassing the numerical solution, by computational methods, of the governing equations which describe fluid flow, the set of the Navier-Stokes equations, continuity and any additional conservation equations, for example energy or species concentrations.

Climate Change : The long-term fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, wind, and all other aspects of the earth's climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity.

Demand : A given population’s energy requirement

Density: The mass of a substance per unit volume (kg/m3)

Distributed Generation Electricity: conversion process from a plant that is directly connected to a distribution system rather than to a transmission system

DTI: Department of Trade & Industry.

Energy: A measure of the amount of 'work' that can be done by, or is needed to operate, an energy conversion system, usually measured in 'joules' (J) or 'kilowatt hours' (kWh).

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): A process for identifying the potential impacts of development and communication of these to the competent authority prior to decision being made on development.

Farm: A group of marine devices installed in given area of a channel

Fossil Fuel: A fuel (as coal, oil, or natural gas) that is formed in the earth from plant or animal remains used for energy production through combustion.

Gigawatt (GW): A unit of power equal to 1 billion watts; 1 million kilowatts, or 1,000 megawatts.

Gigawatt-hour (GWhr): A unit of energy equal to million kilowatt-hours. 1 GWhr is equivalent to the total electricity typically used by 250 homes in one year. Equal to 1000 megawatt-hours.

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs): Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These gases absorb the earth's radiation and warm the atmosphere. Some greenhouse gases occur naturally but are also produced by human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels. When greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere, they have an impact on climate and weather patterns. They are usually measured in carbon dioxide equivalents.

Hydro-Electric Power Plant: An electricity generation unit that extracts energy from water flowing from a dam by the use of turbines

Installed Capacity: The total energy output from electricity generation units in at a given power station.

Kilowatt (kW): A standard unit of electrical power equal to 1000 watts, or to the energy consumption at a rate of 1000 joules per second.

Kilowatt-hour (kWhr): A unit of energy. A typical home uses around 3,300 kWh of electricity per year.

Kinetic Energy: The energy possessed by a body because of its motion, equal to one half the mass of the body times the square of its speed.

Knots: A unit of speed equivalent to one nautical mile per hour or approximately 1.85 kilometres per hour.

Kyoto Protocol: An international legally binding agreement governing the reduction in greenhouse gases to tackle the threat of climate change.

Load Factor: The ratio of the actual energy output of a generating plant to the maximum possible energy output over a time period.

Mechanical Energy: Energy stored in a mechanical form.

Pollution: Environmental contamination through human activities which results in harmful consequence to living things such as the discharge of toxic gases, chemicals, materials from power generation processes

Power: The time rate at which work is done or energy emitted or transferred

Rated Velocity: The current velocity at which the power train produces its rated output

Renewable Energy: Energy derived from resources that are regenerative. This includes solar power, wind, wave and tide and hydroelectricity. Wood, straw and waste are often called solid renewable energy, while landfill gas and sewage gas can be described as gaseous renewables.

Renewables Obligation Scotland (ROS) : ROS requires licensed electricity suppliers to source at least part of their electricity from renewable generation.

Terawatt Hour (TWhr): A unit of energy equal to one million kilowatt-hours. Approximately equivalent to the total electricity used by 250,000 homes in one year. Equal to 1000 gigawatt-hours.

Turbine: A rotary device actuated by the reaction or impulse or both of a current of fluid (as water, steam, or air) subject to pressure and usually made with a series of curved vanes on a central rotating spindle

Velocity: The rate of change of position along a straight line with respect to time

Watt (W): The conventional unit that measures the rate of flow of energy. One watt amounts to one joule per second.