Energy terms starting with O

66 terms

O<sub>3</sub> See ozone
OASIS An isolated, fertile tract or green locality in a desert region, made so by the presence of water. See also Palm oasis
Obligate species Restricted to a particular condition of life; for example, dependent on a particular habitat to be able to breed.
Obsidian A black or dark-colored volcanic glass.
Occupancy Sensor An optical, ultrasonic, or infrared sensor that turns room lights on when they detect a person's presence and off after the space is vacated.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) One of the U.S. agencies responsible for regulation of biotechnology. The major law under which the agency has regulatory powers is the Occupational…
Occupied Space The space within a building or structure that is normally occupied by people, and that may be conditioned (heated, cooled and/or ventilated).
Ocean Energy Systems Energy conversion technologies that harness the energy in tides, waves, and thermal gradients in the oceans.
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) The process or technologies for producing energy by harnessing the temperature differences (thermal gradients) between ocean surface waters and that of…
Octane enhancer Any substance that is added to gasoline to increase octane.
octane rating (octane number) A measure of a fuel’s resistance to self ignition, hence a measure as well of the antiknock properties of the fuel.
Off-highway vehicle (OHV) or off-road vehicle Any motorized vehicle designed for or capable of cross-country travel on or immediately over land, water, sand, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, or other…
Off-Peak The period of low energy demand, as opposed to maximum, or peak, demand.
Off-road vehicle See also Off-highway vehicle
Off-road vehicle (OHV) designations OPEN: Vehicles are allowed without restrictions. LIMITED: Vehicle travel off existing roads and trails would be allowed only for authorized or permitted…
Off-site facility A hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal area that is located away from the generating site.
offset You offset an options or futures position by taking a second position in a contract with identical terms, buying if you sold initially or selling if you…
Ohm's Law In a given electrical circuit, the amount of current in amperes (i) is equal to the pressure in volts (V) divided by the resistance, in ohms (R).
Ohms A measure of the electrical resistance of a material equal to the resistance of a circuit in which the potential difference of 1 volt produces a current…
Oil (fuel) A product of crude oil that is used for space heating, diesel engines, and electrical generation.
Oil and gas leasing (on BLM land) The BLM leases oil and gas rights to explore for and produce oil and gas resources from federal lands or mineral rights owned by the federal government.
Old growth Timber stands with the following characteristics: large mature and over-mature trees in the overstory, snags, dead and decaying logs on the ground and a…
On-Peak A block of (usually 16) hours in each week-day when demand is at its peak. On-peak definitions for physical electricity vary by North America Electric…
On-Peak Energy Energy supplied during periods of relatively high system demands as specified by the supplier.
On-Site Generation Generation of energy at the location where all or most of it will be used.
One Sun The maximum value of natural solar insolation.
One-Axis Tracking A system capable of rotating about one axis.
Onroad mobile source (emissions) Any mobile source of air pollution such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, and buses that travels on roads and highways.
Opacity The degree to which smoke or particles emitted into the air reduce the transmission of light and obscure the view of an object in the background.
Open Access The ability to send or wheel electric power to a customer over a transmission and distribution system that is not owned by the power generator (seller).
Open outcry When exchange-based commodities traders shout out their buy and sell orders or use a combination of words and hand signals to negotiate an order, it's…
Open Space Used to describe undeveloped land or land that is used for recreation. Farmland as well as all natural habitats (forests, fields, wetlands etc.
Open Space Residential Design (OSRD) A form of residential subdivision that maximizes resource protection and conservation of natural areas through the use of design strategies that result in…
Open-Circuit Voltage The maximum possible voltage across a photovoltaic cell; the voltage across the cell in sunlight when no current is flowing.
Open-Loop Geothermal Heat Pump System Open-loop (also known as "direct") systems circulate water drawn from a ground or surface water source.
Operating Cycle The processes that a work input/output system undergoes and in which the initial and final states are identical.
Operating reserves That capability above firm system demand required to provide for regulation, load forecasting error, equipment forced and scheduled outages, and local…
Organic Derived from living organisms.
Organic compound An organic compound contains carbon chemically bound to hydrogen. Organic compounds often contain other elements (particularly O, N, halogens, or S).
Organic compounds Chemical compounds based on carbon chains or rings and also containing hydrogen, with or without oxygen, nitrogen, and other elements.
Organic level The amount of organic matter prescribed to be left after logging.
Orientation The alignment of a building along a given axis to face a specific geographical direction.
OSHA See Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Ostracods Group of small crustaceans with a bivalved carapace which can be closed to completely cover the body; important planktonic fish food.
Outage A discontinuance of electric power supply.
Outflow The volume of growing cells that is removed from a bioreactor during a continuous fermentation process.
Outgassing The process by which materials expel or release gasses.
Outside Air Air that is taken from the outdoors.
Outside Coil The heat-transfer (exchanger) component of a heat pump, located outdoors, from which heat is collected in the heating mode, or expelled in the cooling…
Oven dry See bone dry.
oven dry ton An amount of wood that weighs 2000 lb at 0% moisture content.
Oven dry ton (ODT) An amount of wood that weighs 2,000 pounds at zero percent moisture content.
Overbank deposits Fine-grained sediment (silt and clay) deposited from suspension on a floodplain by floodwaters from a stream channel.
Overdraft When the amount of money withdrawn from a bank account is greater than the amount actually available in the account, the excess is known as an overdraft…
Overhang See: extension.
Overlay Districts Zoning districts in which additional regulatory standards are superimposed on existing zoning.
Overload To exceed the design capacity of a device.
Overnight capital cost The capital cost of a project if it could be constructed overnight. This cost does not include the interest cost of funds used during construction.
Overstory The portion of the trees forming the upper or uppermost canopy in a forest stand.
Ovonic A device that converts heat or sunlight directly to electricity, invented by Standford Ovshinsky, that has a unique glass composition that changes from an…
Oxygenate A cleaner-burning additive in a fuel—usually containing hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Examples are ethers and alchohols, such as ethanol and methanol.
Oxygenated Fuels Fuels blended with an additive—usually ether or ethanol—to increase oxygen content, allowing more-thorough combustion for reduced carbon monoxide…
Oxygenated gasoline Gasoline containing an oxygenate.
Oxygenates Gasoline fuel additives such as ethanol, ETBE, or MTBE that add extra oxygen to gasoline to reduce carbon monoxide pollution produced by vehicles.
Ozone Tropospheric ozone (ground-level ozone), or smog, is formed when volatile organic compounds, oxygen and nitrogen oxides react in the presence of sunlight.
Ozone (O3) A strong-smelling, reactive, toxic, chemical gas consisting of three oxygen atoms chemically attached to each other.