Renewable Energy terms starting with F

93 terms

Facultative ponds Ponds having an aerobic zone on the top and an anaerobic zone on the bottom.
Facultative wetland vegetation species A species that can occur both in wetlands and uplands.
Fall Line Direction that water flows down a hill.
Fan An electrically or mechanically driven device that is used to pull air through the radiator or oil cooler.
Fan apron A sloping alluvial fan surface made of sediment deposited by streams at the mouth of a canyon between a mountain and the adjacent alluvial valley floor.
Fan piedmont A sloping alluvial fan surface made of sediment deposited by streams at the mouth of a canyon between a mountain and the adjacent alluvial valley floor.
Fan remnant An erosional remnant (or fossil) of a once active and more extensive alluvial fan.
Fan terrace See Alluvial fan terrace
Fast pyrolysis Thermal conversion of biomass by rapid heating to between 450ø to 600øC in the absence of oxygen.
Fast-track Projects on public land for which the environmental review and public participation process is underway and the application could be approved by December…
fatty acid A major component of fats that is used by the body for energy and tissue development.
Fault "Fault" means adultery, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, abandonment or reckless spending.
Fault block A rock mass that is bounded by normal faults. Fault blocks on either side of the fault are elevated or depressed, relative to each other.
Fault plane The plane that best approximates the fracture surface of a fault.
Fault trace The expression of a fault on the ground surface.
Fault, left-lateral A strike-slip fault on which displacement of the block opposite the observer is to the left. See also Strike-slip fault
Fault, normal A fault occurring usually as a result of extensional forces, such as when a hanging wall drops down relative to the footwall forming a graben or half…
Fault, potentially active Generally denotes that a fault has shown evidence of surface displacement during Quaternary time.
Fault, right-lateral A strike-slip fault on which displacement of the block opposite the observer is to the right. See also Strike-slip fault
Fault, transform A strike-slip fault forming the boundary between tectonic plates (e.g., the San Andreas Fault system is a transform fault zone that marks the boundary…
Fault, zoned Under the Alquist-Priolo Act, zoned faults include those that are "sufficiently active," showing evidence of surface displacement within the past 11,000…
Fauna The community of animals in a specific region or habitat.
Feature A large, complex artifact, or part of a site, such as a hearth, cairn, housepit, rock alignment, or activity area.
Federal land Land owned by the United States, without reference to how the land was acquired or which Federal agency administers the land, including mineral and coal…
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) Act requiring the Secretary of the Interior to issue regulations to manage public lands and the property located on those lands for the long term.
Federal Register A daily publication which contains federal administrative rules and regulations.
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (CWA) A federal regulatory law administered by the states. The act created the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System.
Feedstock A raw material that can be converted to one or more products.
Fell To cut down a tree. Cutting down trees and sawing them to manageable lengths is referred to as "felling and bucking" or "falling and bucking."
Feller-buncher A self-propelled machine that cuts trees with giant shears near ground level and then stacks the trees into piles to await skidding.
Fermentation The anaerobic breakdown of complex organic substances, especially carbohydrates, by micro-organisms, yielding energy.
Fill Man-made deposits of soil and rock and/or waste material.
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) A document describing the reasons why the impacts of a proposed federal action are not significant.
Fine The monetary penalty assessed against a defendant.
Fire emissions Emissions caused by wildfires, prescribed fires, agricultural fires, and structural fires.
Fire-cracked rock Burned rocks, typically fractured during intense heating in a fire hearth or remnants of rocks associated with cooking.
Fire-tolerant species Species of plants that can withstand certain frequency and intensity of fire.
Firm power (firm energy) Power which is guaranteed by the supplier to be available at all times during a period covered by a commitment.
First in time, first in right See Prior Appropriation Doctrine
Fischer-Tropsch Fuels Liquid hydrocarbon fuels produced by a process that combines carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
Fissure, earth or ground Surface fractures resulting from subsidence, often due to the withdrawal of groundwater and compaction of an aquifer.
fixed bed A bed of closely spaced particles through which gases move up or down for purposes of gasification or combustion.
fixed carbon The carbon remaining after heating in a prescribed manner to decompose thermally unstable components and to distill volatiles.
Flake A thin, flattened piece or chip of stone, intentionally removed from the core rock by chipping with either a stone or bone hammer.
Flash Flood A sudden flood event through a valley, canyon, or wash, following a short duration, high-intensity rainfall.
Flash Point The minimum temperature at which a liquid gives off vapor within a test vessel in sufficient concentration to form an ignitable mixture with air near the…
Flat-plate PV A type of photovoltaic solar energy technology that uses a flat plate onto which are installed solar cells.
Flat-plate reflector (heliostat) One of many components of a CSP power tower facility consisting of a large nearly-flat mirror, mounted on a support structure that tracks the sun's…
Flats Level or nearly level areas of land marked by little or no relief.
Flats wetland A level landform composed of unconsolidated sediments, usually mud or sand. Flats are unvegetated or support sparse plant communities, often composed of…
Flexible-fuel vehicle A vehicle with a single fuel tank designed to run on varying blends of unleaded gasoline with either ethanol or methanol.
Flood irrigation Water is pumped or brought to the fields and is allowed to flow along the ground among the crops.
Floodplain Any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source.
Flora Plants, especially those of a specific region, considered as a group.
Flow rate The amount of water that moves through an area (usually pipe) in a given period of time.
FLPMA Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
fluidized bed A gasifier or combustor design in which feedstock particles are kept in suspension by a bed of solids kept in motion by a rising column of gas.
Fluidized-bed boiler A large, refractory-lined vessel with an air distribution member or plate in the bottom, a hot gas outlet in or near the top, and some provisions for…
Fluvial Pertaining to a river. Fluvial sediments are deposited by rivers.
Fly ash The fine particulate matter entrained in the flue gases of a combustion power plant.
Flyway A seasonal route followed by birds migrating to and from their breeding areas.
Footprint The land or water area covered by a project. This includes direct physical coverage (i.e.
Forage Small baitfish, crayfish and other creatures that bass or other predator fish eat.
Foraging habitat See Spotted owl habitat.
Forbs Herbaceous (nonwoody), broad-leaved flowering plants; non-graminoid (grasses, sedges, and rushes) herbaceous plants. See also Graminoid herbaceous
Forest health A condition of ecosystem sustainability and attainment of management objectives for a given forest area.
Forest Plan The document that sets goals, objectives, desired future condition, standards and guidelines, and overall programmatic direction for a National Forest.
Forest residues Material not harvested or removed from logging sites in commercial hardwood and softwood stands as well as material resulting from forest management…
Forested areas or land Any land that is capable of producing or has produced forest growth or, if lacking forest growth, has evidence of a former forest and is not now in other…
forestry residues Includes tops, limbs, and other woody material not removed in forest harvesting operations in commercial hardwood and softwood stands, as well as woody…
form The mass or shape of an object or objects that appears unified, such as a vegetative opening in a forest, a cliff formation, or a water tank.
Forwarder A self-propelled vehicle to transport harvested material from the stump area to the landing.
Fossil Remains of ancient life forms, their imprints or behavioral traces (e.g., tracks, burrows, or residues) and the rocks in which they are preserved.
Fossil fuel Solid, liquid or gaseous fuels formed in the ground after millions of years by chemical and physical changes in plant and animal residues under high…
Fossil Fuels Fuels formed in the ground from the remains of dead plants and animals. It takes millions of years to form fossil fuels.
Fragmentation Process by which habitats are increasingly subdivided into smaller units, resulting in their increased insularity as well as losses of total habitat area.
Fragmentation of habitat The breaking up of a single habitat area into two or more smaller habitat patches that are separated from each other.
Francis Turbine A type of hydropower turbine that contains a runner that has water passages through it formed by curved vanes or blades.
Fresnel - Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) See Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR)
Fresnel Lens An optical device for concentrating light that is made of concentric rings that are faced at different angles so that light falling on any ring is focused…
Friable A term commonly used to describe a crumb-like callus. In this state, the callus is easily dissected and readily dispersed into single cells or clumps of…
Fuel Also known as gasoline.
Fuel cell A holding tank for a race car's supply of gasoline. Consists of a metal box that contains a flexible, tear-resistant bladder and foam baffling.
Fuel cycle The series of steps required to produce electricity. The fuel cycle includes mining or otherwise acquiring the raw fuel source, processing and cleaning…
Fuel handling system A system for unloading wood fuel from vans or trucks, transporting the fuel to a storage pile or bin, and conveying the fuel from storage to the boiler or…
Fuel-cell furnace A variation of the Dutch oven design, that usually incorporates a primary and secondary combustion chamber (cell).
Fugitive Dust The dust released from any source other than a definable point source such as stack, chimney, or vent.
Fujita Scale The official classification system for tornado damage. The scale ranges from F0 (gale tornado, minor damage, winds up to 72 mph) to F5 (devastating…
Full-time equivalent (FTE) Equivalent to a full-time worker/employee. For example, two people, each working half time, constitute one FTE.
Fungi Plant-like organisms with cells with distinct nuclei surrounded by nuclear membranes, incapable of photosynthesis.
Furbearer An animal that is hunted or farmed for its fur.
furfural An aldehyde derivative of certain biomass conversion processes; used as a solvent.
Furnace An enclosed chamber or container used to burn biomass in a controlled manner to produce heat for space or process heating.