Quiz Answers

One of the limitations of the tool I used to create the quiz yesterday, was that you didn’t get to see the correct answers after you had pressed the submit button.

So, as planned here are the answers with a little bit of explanation.

 

1. You might have heard the term carbon footprint. What is it?

A.  How many squares in you home

B.  The fuel efficiency of your car

C.  Answer: A person’s contribution to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  According to Wikipedia; A carbon footprint is “the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product”

2. What is standby power?

A.  The excess power that is generated by coal fired power stations at night

B.  Answer: The standby energy consumer electronics consume when not in use.  According to Wikipedia; Standby power, also called vampire power, phantom load, or leaking electricity, refers to the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode.

C.  When you leave the porch light on when you go out

3.  What does "photovoltaic" refer to?

A.  Answer: The field of research that involves solar-power technology.  Wiki states; Photovoltaics (PV) is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells for energy by converting sunlight directly into electricity.

B.  The amount of energy it takes to power a device using the sun’s energy

C.  A camera that takes pictures in the dark

D.  Those machines that print photos for you at Kmart

4.  What does the term "de-lamping" mean?

A.  Remove your lamps in your house

B.  Answer: To remove every second light bulb in an office space.  According to ResourceSmart Victoria; De-lamping is a strategy which school’s or offices can utilise to reduce energy consumption used for classroom lighting. All old or inefficient fluorescent tubes are removed and replaced a reduced number of high efficiency triphosphor lamps. Fewer tubes can be used because triphosphor lamps have a higher light output, a longer life and do not degrade over time.

C.  Blowing out candles after Earth Hour

5. What is the Global Warming Potential of Methane?

A.  3

B.  200

C.  Answer: 21.  Wikipedia states: Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of how much a given mass of greenhouse gas is estimated to contribute to global warming. It is a relative scale which compares the gas in question to that of the same mass of carbon dioxide (whose GWP is by definition 1).  Methane has a GWP of 25 (even I get it wrong sometimes!)

D.  22,800

6. Which is a carbon sink?

A.  Coal fired power station (lots of CO2-e emissions)

B.  Answer: A forest.  Wikipedia states; A carbon sink is a natural or manmade reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period.

The main natural sinks are: Absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans or Photosynthesis by plants and algae

The main manmade sinks are: Landfills or Carbon capture and storage proposals

C.  A herd of cows (they fart methane)

D.  A flock of seagulls (an 80’s band)

7. According to the Kyoto Protocol, which is not a greenhouse gas?

A.  Sulphur Hexaflouride

B.  Carbon Dioxide

C.  Methane

D.  Answer: Hydrogen.  According to the IPCC Fourth Assessment report, the following gases are GHG

• Carbon dioxide has a variable atmospheric lifetime, and cannot be specified precisely.^[45] Recent work indicates that recovery from a large input of atmospheric CO₂ from burning fossil fuels will result in an effective lifetime of tens of thousands of years.^[46][47] Carbon dioxide is defined to have a GWP of 1 over all time periods.
• Methane has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 ± 3 years and a GWP of 72 over 20 years, 25 over 100 years and 7.6 over 500 years. The decrease in GWP at longer times is because methane is degraded to water and CO₂ through chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
• Nitrous oxide has an atmospheric lifetime of 114 years and a GWP of 289 over 20 years, 298 over 100 years and 153 over 500 years.
• CFC-12 has an atmospheric lifetime of 100 years and a GWP of 11000 over 20 years, 10900 over 100 years and 5200 over 500 years.
• HCFC-22 has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 years and a GWP of 5160 over 20 years, 1810 over 100 years and 549 over 500 years.
• Tetrafluoromethane has an atmospheric lifetime of 50,000 years and a GWP of 5210 over 20 years, 7390 over 100 years and 11200 over 500 years.
• Sulphur hexafluoride has an atmospheric lifetime of 3,200 years and a GWP of 16300 over 20 years, 22800 over 100 years and 32600 over 500 years.
• Nitrogen trifluoride has an atmospheric lifetime of 740 years and a GWP of 12300 over 20 years, 17200 over 100 years and 20700 over 500 years.

8. What are the two main components in cheesemaking?

A.  Curds and hay

B.  Birds and sway

C.  Milk and cream

D.  Answer: Curds and whey;  Wikipedia states; Curds is a dairy product obtained by curdling (coagulating) milk with rennet or an edible acidic substance such as lemon juice or vinegar and then draining off the liquid portion (called whey)

9. Which one of these is not a potential application for grey water?

A.  Watering fruit trees

B.  Flushing the toilet

C.  Answer: Washing the dishes.  Refer to www.health.vic.gov.au for appropriate uses of grey water recycling.

10. What is the most polluting fossil fuel?

A.  Oil (emissions factor of 69.16 kg CO2-e/GJ)

B.  Answer: Brown Coal. (emissions factor of 93.11 kg CO2-e/GJ)

C.  Black Coal. (emissions factor of 88.43 kg CO2-e/GJ)

D.  Natural Gas. (emissions factor of 51.33 kg CO2-e/GJ)

Source: Australian Government – Department of Climate Change, National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors, November 2008.

 

So there you have it.  I am glad that lots of readers had a go at the quiz.  It wasn’t an easy one, but I think it was lots of fun based on the comments.  Next time I will find some software that gives you instant feedback!

Thanks for playing.