Energy terms starting with R

153 terms

101. Resistor An electrical device that resists electric current flow.
102. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) The primary goals of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) are to protect human health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste…
103. Resource Management Plan (RMP) A land use plan that establishes land use allocations, multiple use guidelines, and management objectives for a given planning area.
104. Resource Recovery The process of converting municipal solid waste to energy and/or recovering materials for recycling.
105. Resource values A resource, natural or social, that is found in an area. Resource values may have varying levels of significance.
106. Restructuring The process of changing the structure of the electric power industry from one of guaranteed monopoly over service territories, as established by the…
107. Retail unbundling Disaggregating electric utility service into its basic components and offering each component separately for sale with separate rates for each component.
108. Retail Wheeling A term for the process of transmitting electricity over transmission lines not owned by the supplier of the electricity to a retail customer of the…
109. Retinal damage Damage to photoreceptor cells of the retina. One mechanism for such damage is exposure to bright light that triggers chemical reactions in the tissues…
110. Retrofit The process of modifying a building's structure.
111. Retrofitting The application of conservation, efficiency, or renewable energy technologies to existing structures.
112. Return Air Air that is returned to a heating or cooling appliance from a heated or cooled space.
113. Return Duct The central heating or cooling system contains a fan that gets its air supply through these ducts, which ideally should be installed in every room of the…
114. Return on investment (ROI) The interest rate at which the net present value of a project is zero. Multiple values are possible.
115. Reuse The reclamation of water diverted from a municipal or industrial wastewater conveyance system.
116. Reverse Thermosiphoning When heat seeks to flow from a warm area (e.g., heated space) to a cooler area, such as a solar air collector at night without a reverse flow damper.
117. Reversing Valve A component of a heat pump that reverses the refrigerant's direction of flow, allowing the heat pump to switch from cooling to heating or heating to…
118. Rhyolite Volcanic rock (or lava), characteristically light in color and containing 69% silica or more and generally rich in potassium and sodium (felsic…
119. Rhyolitic domes See also Dome, volcanic; Rhyolite
120. Ribbon (Photovoltaic) Cells A type of solar photovoltaic device made in a continuous process of pulling material from a molten bath of photovoltaic material, such as silicon, to form…
121. Richter Magnitude Scale Developed in 1935 by Charles Richter to measure and compare the size of earthquakes.
122. Rift An area where the Earth's crust and lithosphere is being pulled apart by extensional tectonic forces.
123. Rift zone A tectonic feature characterized by a central linear downfaulted segment (graben) with parallel normal faulting and flanking uplifts (horsts).
124. Right-lateral fault See Fault, right-lateral
125. Right-of-way (ROW) The legal right to cross the lands of another. Also used to indicate the strip of land for a road, railroad, or power line.
126. Rigid Insulation Board An insulation product made of a fibrous material or plastic foams, pressed or extruded into board-like forms.
127. Rill A small and shallow incision into topsoil layers resulting from erosion by overland flow or surface runoff that is common on slopes of unvegetated ground…
128. Ring-fencing Techniques used to isolate the credit risk of a subsidiary within a corporation from the risk of its affiliated companies.
129. Rinsate Water that is used to rinse or clean equipment or reaction vessels and that may, as a result, become contaminated and require special handling and…
130. Riparian Relating to, living in, or located on the bank of a river, lake, or tidewater.
131. Riparian Area Vegetated ecosystems along a waterbody through which energy, materials, and water pass.
132. Riparian buffer Riparian areas that are managed to protect the aquatic and riparian ecosystem. A riparian buffer protects water quality and temperature, habitat along the…
133. Riparian obligate species Plants or animal species found only in riparian habitats.
134. Risk The possibility of loss; the uncertainty of future returns.
135. risk management The process, distinct from risk assessment, of weighing policy alternatives, in consultation with all interested parties, considering risk assessment and…
136. River Basin The land area surrounding one river from its headwaters to its mouth. The area drained by a river and its tributaries.
137. Riverine wetland Wetlands within river and stream channels, generally characterized by flowing water. Ocean-derived salinity is less than 0.5 part per thousand.
138. Rock art Images on rock surfaces. There are two types of rock art: pictographs, which are drawn or painted onto the surface, and petroglyphs, which are pecked…
139. Rock Bin A container that holds rock used as the thermal mass to store solar energy in a solar heating system.
140. Rock outcrop The part of a rock formation that appears above the surface of the surrounding land.
141. Rock Wool A type of insulation made from virgin basalt, an igneous rock, and spun into loose fill or a batt. It is fire resistant and helps with soundproofing.
142. Rolling blackouts A controlled and temporary interruption of electrical service. They are necessary when a utility is unable to meet heavy peak demands because of an…
143. Roof A building element that provides protection against the sun, wind, and precipitation.
144. Roof Pond A solar energy collection device consisting of containers of water located on a roof that absorb solar energy during the day so that the heat can be used…
145. Roof Ventilator A stationary or rotating vent used to ventilate attics or cathedral ceilings; usually made of galvanized steel, or polypropylene.
146. Roost An area where birds or bats rest or sleep. Birds often use branches or tree cavities for roosts while bats use tree bark, tree hollows, caves, mines…
147. Rotation The number of years allotted to establish and grow a forest stand to maturity.
148. Rotor An electric generator consists of an armature and a field structure. The armature carries the wire loop, coil, or other windings in which the voltage is…
149. Rough trees Live trees of commercial species which do not contain a sawlog because of roughness, poor form, splits, or cracks.
150. Roundwood Logs, bolts, or other round sections cut from trees.
151. Run-of-River Hydropower A type of hydroelectric facility that uses the river flow with very little alteration and little or no impoundment of the water.
152. Runoff The water that flows off the surface of the land, ultimately into our streams and water bodies, without being absorbed into the soil.
153. Rural Electrification Administration (REA) An agency of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture that makes loans to states and territories in the U.S.