Renewable Energy terms starting with O

34 terms

  1. O<sub>3</sub> See ozone
  2. OASIS An isolated, fertile tract or green locality in a desert region, made so by the presence of water. See also Palm oasis
  3. Obligate species Restricted to a particular condition of life; for example, dependent on a particular habitat to be able to breed.
  4. Obsidian A black or dark-colored volcanic glass.
  5. 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…
  6. Octane enhancer Any substance that is added to gasoline to increase octane.
  7. 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.
  8. 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…
  9. Off-road vehicle See also Off-highway vehicle
  10. 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…
  11. Off-site facility A hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal area that is located away from the generating site.
  12. 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…
  13. 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.
  14. 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…
  15. Onroad mobile source (emissions) Any mobile source of air pollution such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, and buses that travels on roads and highways.
  16. 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.
  17. Organic Derived from living organisms.
  18. Organic compound An organic compound contains carbon chemically bound to hydrogen. Organic compounds often contain other elements (particularly O, N, halogens, or S).
  19. Organic compounds Chemical compounds based on carbon chains or rings and also containing hydrogen, with or without oxygen, nitrogen, and other elements.
  20. Organic level The amount of organic matter prescribed to be left after logging.
  21. OSHA See Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
  22. Ostracods Group of small crustaceans with a bivalved carapace which can be closed to completely cover the body; important planktonic fish food.
  23. Outflow The volume of growing cells that is removed from a bioreactor during a continuous fermentation process.
  24. Oven dry See bone dry.
  25. oven dry ton An amount of wood that weighs 2000 lb at 0% moisture content.
  26. Oven dry ton (ODT) An amount of wood that weighs 2,000 pounds at zero percent moisture content.
  27. Overbank deposits Fine-grained sediment (silt and clay) deposited from suspension on a floodplain by floodwaters from a stream channel.
  28. 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…
  29. 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.
  30. Overstory The portion of the trees forming the upper or uppermost canopy in a forest stand.
  31. Oxygenate A cleaner-burning additive in a fuel—usually containing hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Examples are ethers and alchohols, such as ethanol and methanol.
  32. Oxygenated gasoline Gasoline containing an oxygenate.
  33. Ozone Tropospheric ozone (ground-level ozone), or smog, is formed when volatile organic compounds, oxygen and nitrogen oxides react in the presence of sunlight.
  34. Ozone (O3) A strong-smelling, reactive, toxic, chemical gas consisting of three oxygen atoms chemically attached to each other.