- Industry: Broadcasting & receiving
- Number of terms: 5074
- Number of blossaries: 1
- Company Profile:
The largest broadcasting organisation in the world.
A condensing boiler captures and uses energy contained in the water vapour given off when gas or oil is burned. In a non-condensing boiler this vapour leaves via a heat-resistant gas tube, or 'flue', and its energy is wasted. A condensing boiler cools the combustion gases sufficiently that the water vapour condenses back into liquid and its heat is recaptured. Approximately 10% of the energy value of the fuel is contained in this water vapour, so a condensing boiler converts far more of the fuel's energy into heat.
Industry:Natural environment
Broadly speaking, any ex-Soviet bloc state. At the time the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997, these countries were on the path from a Communist planned economy to a market economy. Many of them would now be categorised as market economies. Countries in transition to a market economy are grouped with industrialised countries in Annex I of the Kyoto Protocol, so they have emission reduction commitments to meet in the 2008-2012 period. In some cases their industrial base collapsed to such a degree in the early 1990s that they will have no difficulty meeting these commitments.
Industry:Natural environment
Dangerous climate change is a term introduced by the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - the treaty that led to the Kyoto protocol. In general terms, it refers to climate change of sufficient severity that it will have a major effect on societies, economies and the wider environment. The definition of what that level is varies, but Defra, for example, defines it as a rise in average global surface temperatures of 1-3 ºC (taking pre-industrial revolution average surface temperatures as the base).
Industry:Natural environment
The permanent removal of standing forests that can lead to significant levels of carbon dioxide emissions.
Industry:Natural environment
Deforestation is the conversion, long term, of areas of forested land to non-forested land through human activity. (Where cleared areas are quickly replanted, it is not regarded as deforestation.) Reforestation is the reversal of that process - i.e. planting trees on land that has historically been forested but has recently been used for other purposes. A less commonly seen term, afforestation, refers to the process of establishing forests on land that has never been forested, or not in recent history.
Industry:Natural environment
Ordinary diesel, like regular petrol, is refined from oil but it is a thicker, heavier liquid with a higher 'energy density' - meaning it offers better fuel economy. On the down side, unless you buy an air filter, diesel exhaust is a significant source of particulates and other sources of air pollution. A type of diesel not derived from petroleum is increasingly widely available, commonly referred to as biodiesel.
Industry:Natural environment
Dioxins are chlorine-containing chemical compounds formed and emitted into the atmosphere usually as byproducts of human activity - waste incineration and fuel combustion being common examples. They are also formed by natural processes such as forest fires and volcanoes. Some dioxins have harmful properties and could, in sufficient concentration, be harmful to the environment and human health.
Industry:Natural environment
Draught proofing is the process of filling in unwanted gaps in the fabric of a building to reduce the heat loss and discomfort they cause. Common sources of draughts are gaps round window and door frames, places where pipes enter the building, ill-fitted floorboards, letter boxes and even keyholes. Materials used include foams, brushes and thin sections of rubber, plastic or metal.
Industry:Natural environment
A dual-fuel vehicle is one designed to run on a combination of traditional fuels (petrol or diesel) and alternative fuels (such as liquid petroleum gas or biodiesel). The term is usually applied to cars with separate tanks for each fuel but is sometimes used to describe those diesel engines that accept a blend of traditional fuel and bio-diesel.
Industry:Natural environment
Eco-friendly, or environmentally friendly, is a term applied to goods, services, processes or people deemed to do minimal harm to the environment. The term is shorthand for 'ecologically friendly', ecology being the study of the relationships between living organisms and their environment.
Industry:Natural environment
