www.ebook3000.com Dictionary of 21st Century Energy Technologies, Financing & Sustainability www.ebook3000.com www.ebook3000.com Dictionary of 21st Century Energy Technologies, Financing & Sustainability Gene Beck, CEM, CLP www.ebook3000.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Beck, Gene Dictionary of 21st century energy technologies, financing & sustainabiliy/ Gene Beck, CEM, CLP pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 0-88173-736-4 (alk paper) ISBN 0-88173-737-2 (electronic : alk paper) ISBN 978-14822-5304-7 (Taylor & Francis distribution : alk paper) Power resources Dictionaries Renewable energy sources Dictionaries Energy industries Dictionaries Environmental protection Dictionaries I Title TJ163.16.B43 2014 621.04203 dc23 2014003701 Dictionary of 21st century energy technologies, financing & sustainabiliy by Gene Beck ©2014 by Gene Beck All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher Published by The Fairmont Press, Inc 700 Indian Trail Lilburn, GA 30047 tel: 770-925-9388; fax: 770-381-9865 http://www.fairmontpress.com Distributed by Taylor & Francis Ltd 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487, USA E-mail: orders@crcpress.com Distributed by Taylor & Francis Ltd 23-25 Blades Court Deodar Road London SW15 2NU, UK E-mail: uk.tandf@thomsonpublishingservices.co.uk Printed in the United States of America 10 ISBN 0-88173-736-4 (The Fairmont Press, Inc.) ISBN 978-1-4822-5304-7 (Taylor & Francis Ltd.) While every effort is made to provide dependable information, the publisher, authors, and editors cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions The views expressed herein not necessarily reflect those of the publisher This glossary does not necessarily represent the views of any agency, entity or company We assume no legal liability for the information in this glossary nor does any party represent that the uses of this information will not infringe upon privately owned rights No regulatory or certification agency has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the information in this glossary www.ebook3000.com Preface This book was written for you, the layperson or professional, that is directly or tangentially in the field of energy, sustainability, financial and environmental issues and how they are integrated Although even veterans of the industries occasionally forget certain terms and acronyms and professionals frequently don’t understand the terminology that others in related energy related professions use, we can all use a reference manual to refer to This was certainly the case for me Although a seasoned practitioner in the field of financing equipment and machinery for the commercial and industrial sector of our economy, I had little knowledge of the field of CleanTech Renewable Energy that I found myself getting immersed into at the turn of the century The opportunities for creative financing was particularly applicable to this emerging financial sector I needed to be brought up to speed quickly to understand the credit requests and investment opportunities that were being presented to me Additionally, my clients expected me to understand the language they were using and assumed that I would be conversant in the “jargon” used in the real world of the new energy paradigm It was from that perspective that I started writing this book about eight years ago I researched every source I could think of and quickly found out that there was no single source of information for what I was looking for Hence, what came as the end product was an amalgamation of a wide variety of bits and pieces from a large number of sources I also now know that this book can never be complete After nearly a decade of making notes and trying to organize my sticky notes on hundreds of papers, I have decided that for better-or-worse, I need to share what I have learned with others and hopefully make your learning period much shorter Hence, what was originally a manuscript that I thought others might also like to keep in their files when the subjects of “energy, sustainability, financing and the environment” begged for a more in-depth compilation, turned into what you now have in your hands that the reader can enjoy and use as a quick desk reference The new emerging renewable energy, energy efficiency and the relationships those key sectors have to our global climate, sustainability and environmental stewardship have become critically important for all people of the world Enjoy! Gene Beck, CEM, CLP v www.ebook3000.com www.ebook3000.com Dictionary of 21st Century Energy Technologies, Financing & Sustainability Symbols AB—Afterburner • Assembly Bill AB 1407—Assembly Bill 1407, codified as California Civil Code section 714, was signed by Governor Davis on September 3, 2003 Among other things, this legislation voids and makes unenforceable any existing covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting real property, as specified, that prohibits or restricts the installation or use of a solar energy system, excepting provisions that impose reasonable restrictions on solar energy systems This statute also mandates that whenever approval is required for the installation or use of a solar energy system, that such approval be processed in the same manner as approval of an architectural modification, and not be willfully avoided or delayed Any Public Entity (see definition) may not receive funds from a state sponsored grant or loan program, including the CSI, for solar energy if it fails to comply with these requirements A Public Entity must certify that it is meeting these requirements when applying for these grants or loans See California Civil Code section 714 for full statutory requirements and further detail AB 2514—(a.k.a Public Utilities Code Sections 28352839) Legislation enacted in 2010 directing the California Public Utilities Commission to open a proceeding to determine, if appropriate, procurement targets for energy storage by load serving entities ABA—American Bar Association www.abanet.org Abandonment—The retirement from further use of a fixed asset Also, the relinquishment of salvage to insurers with intention of claiming the full amount of insurance value, or, the giving up of title or the right of property by voluntary surrender or neglect • Regulatory authorization for a utility to cease provision of a particular service and/or to shut down a particular facility Abatement—Is simply the reduction of emissions—so “abatement costs” are the costs of reducing emissions Can be a reduction in the quantity or intensity as in greenhouse gas emissions The reduction of ¢/kWh—cents per kilowatt-hour A A&C—Abatement and Control A&I—Alternative and Innovative (Wastewater Treatment System) A&R—Air and Radiation A/R—Afforestation and reforestation Term given to the class of projects devoted to the planting of trees on unforested land for carbon emissions reduction and other environmental benefits • Accounts Receivable (financial) A/WPR—Air/Water Pollution Report AA—Accountable Area • Adverse Action • Advices of Allowance • Attainment Area • Atomic Absorption AAA—American Arbitration Association www.adr.org AAAS—American Association for the Advancement of Science www.aaas.org AAC—Acceptable Ambient Concentration AAEE—American Academy of Environmental Engineers www.aaee.net AAL—Acceptable Ambient Limit AANWR—Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge AAP—Affirmative Action Plan • Asbestos Action Program AAPCO—American Association of Pesticide Control Officials www.aapco.ceris.purdue.edu AAQS—Ambient Air Quality Standards AASHE—Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future www.aashe.org AAU—Assigned Amount Unit Allowances for carbon emissions allocated to developed countries up to their target level under the Kyoto Protocol These allowances are tradable under Kyoto’s international emission trading mechanisms in place from 2008 to 2012 Each AAU equates to one ton of CO2 e (CO2 equivalent) www.ebook3000.com Dictionary of 21st Century Energy Technologies, Financing & Sustainability the degree or intensity of pollutants or emissions ABEL—EPA’s computer model for analyzing a violator’s ability to pay a civil penalty ABES—Alliance for Balanced Environmental Studies (Solutions) Abiotic—Having an absence of life or living organisms Ablation—The rapid reduction of soil particles by means of a focused laser Above Building Standard—Upgraded finishes and specialized designs necessary to accommodate a tenant’s requirements Above-Market Cost—The cost of a service in excess of the price of comparable services in the market ABS—Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Styrene • Asset-Backed Securities Absolute Humidity—The ratio of the mass of water vapor to the volume occupied by a mixture of water vapor and dry air Absolute Open Flow (AOF)—The number of cubic feet of gas per 24 hours that would be produced by a well if the only pressure against the face of the producing sand in the well bore were atmospheric pressure Absolute Pressure—Gauge pressure plus barometric pressure Absolute pressure can be zero only in a perfect vacuum Absolute Viscosity—The measure of a fluid’s tendency to resist flow, without regard to its density By definition, the product of a fluid’s kinematic viscosity times its density Absolute Zero—The zero point on the absolute temperature scale It is equal to -273 degrees C or degrees K (Kelvin), or -459.69 degrees F, or degrees R (Rankine) Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) Batteries—Employ a micro-fibrous silica glass mat envelope to immobilize their electrolyte This makes them non-spillable and gives them a lower self-discharge rate than conventional flooded lead-acid batteries Absorbent—A material that extracts one or more substances from a fluid (gas or liquid) medium on contact, and which changes physically and/or chemically in the process The less volatile of the two working fluids in an absorption cooling device Absorber—The component of a solar thermal collector that absorbs solar radiation and converts it to heat, or, as in a solar photovoltaic device, the material that readily absorbs photons to generate charge carriers (free electrons or holes) For solar tube collectors with reflective panels, the entire circumferential surface area of the inner tube is often used when calculating absorber area, as the reflective panel is supposed to reflect light onto the underside of the evacuated tube Absorbers—Dark-colored objects that soak up heat in solar collectors Absorptance—The ratio of the radiation absorbed by a surface to the total energy falling on that surface described as a percentage Absorption—The passing of a substance or force into the body of another substance • In international trade terms, absorption is investment and consumption purchases by households, businesses, and governments, both domestic and imported When absorption exceeds production, the excess is the country’s current account deficit Absorption Chiller—A type of air cooling device that uses absorption cooling to cool interior spaces A water chilling process in which cooling is accomplished by the evaporation of a fluid (usually water), which is then absorbed by a different solution (usually lithium bromide), then evaporated under heat and pressure The fluid is then condensed with the heat of condensation rejected through a cooling tower Absorption Coefficient—In reference to a solar energy conversion devices, the degree to which a substance will absorb solar energy In a solar photovoltaic device, the factor by which photons are absorbed as they travel a unit distance through a material Absorption Cooling—A process in which cooling of an interior space is accomplished by the evaporation of a volatile fluid, which is then absorbed in a strong solution, then desorbed under pressure by a heat source, and then re-condensed at a temperature high enough that the heat of condensation can be rejected to an exterior space Absorption Period—The actual or expected period required from the time a property (real estate) is initially offered for lease, purchase, or use by its eventual users until all portions have been sold or stabilized occupancy has been achieved Although marketing may begin before the completion of construction, most forecasters consider the absorption period to begin after completion of construction Absorption Plant—A device that removes hydrocarbon compounds from natural gas, especially casinghead gas The gas is run through oil of proper character, which absorbs the liquid constituents, which are then recovered by distillation www.ebook3000.com Absorption Rate—The rate at which rentable space is filled Gross absorption is a measure of the total square feet leased over a specified period with no consideration given to space vacated in the same geographic area during the same time period Net absorption is equal to the amount occupied at the end of a period minus the amount occupied at the beginning of a period and takes into consideration space vacated during the period Absorption Refrigeration—A system in which a secondary fluid absorbs the refrigerant, releasing heat, then releases the refrigerant and reabsorbs the heat Ammonia or water is used as the vapor in commercial absorption cycle systems, and water or lithium bromide is the absorber Absorption Type Air Conditioner, Direct Fired—A self-contained device which provides cooling by direct application of heat Absorptivity—In a solar thermal system, the ratio of solar energy striking the absorber that is absorbed by the absorber to that of solar energy striking a black body (perfect absorber) at the same temperature The absorptivity of a material is numerically equal to its emissivity A measure of the ability of a material to absorb solar radiation Abstract—An abridgment; a brief summary ABTRES—Abatement and Residual Forecasting Model Abutting Owner—Owner whose land touches another parcel, i.e., a road, highway, or other parcel of land AC—Actual Commitment • Advisory Circular • Alternating Current ACA—Absolute Calibration Audit ACBM—Acronym for “asbestos-containing building material.” ACCA—The Air Conditioning Contractors of America www.acca.org ACCA Manual J—The ACCA document entitled “Manual J—Residential Load Calculation, Eighth Edition” (2003) Accelerated Amortization—Writing down the cost of an asset in a shorter period of time than is customary for the item This serves to reduce income taxes during the period and is permitted by the federal tax authorities as an incentive to the purchase of needed items for expanding a sluggish economy Also, a device where the due date on the principal of a debt is accelerated by previous agreement Accelerated Cost Recovery System (ACRS)—The tax depreciation, or cost recovery, method for IRS purposes, which was introduced by the 1981 Economic Recovery tax Act and was effective for all depreciable property placed in service after December 31, 1980 and before January 1, 1987 ACRS was replaced by the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) of the 1986 Tax Reform Act and is the method used for depreciating personal property in the US today Accelerated Depreciation—Any depreciation method that allows for greater deductions or charges in the earlier years of an asset’s depreciable life, with charges becoming progressively smaller in each successive period Examples would include the double declining balance and sum-of-the-years digits methods Accelerated Payments—A remedy the lender can execute in the event of contract default All future payments are due and payable No additional interest is due Acceleration Clause—The clause in a note, bond or mortgage or any financial instrument which stipulates that in the event of default by the debtor, the entire outstanding balance becomes due and payable immediately Accent (light)—Is a direction luminaire designed to highlight or spotlight objects It can be recessed, surface mounted, or mounted to a pendant, stem or track Acceptance for Filing (of a Rate Schedule)—Commission action by which a rate schedule is accepted for filing and becomes a legal rate schedule when made effective by the Commission Acceptance Requirements for Code Compliance—A description of test procedures in the Nonresidential ACM Manual (Title 24 of the State of California) that includes equipment and systems to be tested, functions to be tested, conditions under which the test shall be performed, the scope of the tests, results to be obtained and measurable criteria for acceptable performance Acceptor—A dopant material, such as boron, which has fewer outer shell electrons than required in an otherwise balanced crystal structure, providing a hole, which can accept a free electron Access Charge—A charge for a power supplier, or its customer, for access to a utility’s transmission or distribution system It is a charge for the right to send electricity over another’s wires A charge paid by all market participants withdrawing energy from the ISO controlled grid The access charge will recover the portion of a utility’s transmission revenue requirement not recovered www.ebook3000.com