CCEA A-Level Environmental Technology 3930
Fossil Fuels
Global Action on Energy Conservation and Climate Change
Macrogeneration
Microgeneration
Energy From Wind
Energy From the Sun
Energy From Biomass
Energy Storage
Plastics for the Future
Renewable Energy Investigations
Sustainable Development
Waste Management
Waste to Energy Technologies
Land Contamination and Remediation
Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Transport System Challenges
Energy Performance of Buildings
Emerging Technologies
Sustainable Urban and Rural Communities
The Code for Sustainable Homes
Waste to Energy Technologies
Embodied energy
- 3 things to know
- A2 1
Overview
Embodied energy and embodied carbon, cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave, aluminium's high embodied energy, why recycling saves more than burning, recycling calculations, transport distance, buildings and reducing embodied energy.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Why does recycling a material save more energy than burning it in an energy from waste plant?
Define embodied energy.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Define embodied energy.
Model answer
Embodied energy is the total energy used to produce a product. The total covers extracting raw materials, processing, manufacturing and transporting them.
- 2
What is the difference between cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave embodied energy?
Model answer
Cradle-to-gate counts energy from extraction until the product leaves the factory. Cradle-to-grave also includes use, maintenance and final disposal.
- 3
In what units is the embodied energy of a material usually quoted?
Model answer
Embodied energy is usually quoted in megajoules per kilogram (MJ/kg). A product's total is found by multiplying by its mass.
- 4
Why does aluminium have a very high embodied energy?
Model answer
Aluminium ore must be mined, refined into alumina and then smelted by electrolysis. The electrolysis stage uses very large amounts of electricity.
- 5
How does recycling preserve embodied energy?
Model answer
Recycled material skips the extraction and primary processing stages. Much of the energy already invested in the material is kept in use.
- 6
Why does burning a material for energy recover less than recycling it saves?
Model answer
Incineration recovers only the material's calorific value. The energy used to extract, refine and manufacture the material is lost for good.
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