Packaging : The wrapping material around a product that protects and identifies the product.
Paper : The thin material made from the pulp of wood, rags or other fibrous material.
Particulate : Small pieces of an airborne material. Dusts, fumes, smokes, mists, and fogs are examples. Generally defined as anything that is not a fiber and has an aspect ratio of 3 to 1.
Particulate Pollution: Pollution made up of small liquid or solid particles suspended in the atmosphere or water supply.
Passive Solar: Using or capturing solar energy (usually to heat water) without any external power. Also, using the site and design of the structure of a building to maximize the effects of natural processes.
Pathogen : Microorganisms typically found in the intestinal tracts of mammals that can cause disease in other organisms or in humans, animals and plants. They may be bacteria, viruses, or parasites and are found in sewage, in runoff from animal farms or rural areas, and in water used for swimming. Fish and shellfish contaminated by pathogens, or the contaminated water itself, can cause serious illnesses.
Peak Demand : The greatest demand placed on an electric system; measured in kilowatts or megawatts; also, the time of day or season of the year when that demand occurs.
Peak Load : The amount of electric power required by a consumer or a system during peak demand; measured in kilowatts or megawatts.
Pesticides : Chemical agents used to destroy pests and reduce their impact on agriculture and health.
PET : Ployethylene terepthalate. A plastic used to make soft drink bottles and other kinds of food containers.
Photochemical Oxidants : Air pollutants formed by sunlight on oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons.
Photochemical Smog : Air pollution caused by not one pollutant but by chemical reactions of various pollutants emitted from different sources.
Photosynthesis : The process by which plants, using sunlight as energy, make carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll.
Physical and Chemical Treatment: Two processes used in large wastewater treatment facilities.. Also, treatment of toxic materials in surface waters and ground waters, oil spills, and some methods of dealing with hazardous materials on or in the ground.
Plastics : Durable and flexible synthetic-based products, some of which are difficult to recycle and pose problems with toxic properties, especially PVC plastic.
Polluted Runoff: Precipitation that captures pollution from agricultural lands, urban streets, parking lots and suburban lawns, and transports it to rivers, lakes, or oceans.
Pollution : Any substances in water, soil, or air that degrade the natural quality of the environment, offend sight, taste, or smell, or cause a health hazard.
Pollution Prevention: Techniques that eliminate waste prior to treatment, such as by changing ingredients in a chemical reaction.
Population : The whole number of inhabitants in a country, region or area; also, a set of individuals having a quality or characteristic in common.
Post Consumer Waste: Waste collected after the consumer has used and disposed of it (e.g., a candy wrapper).
Power Plants: Facilities (plants) that produce energy.
Pre-Consumer : This term describes material that is being reused/recycled before it is on the market; also, waste material generated during the manufacturing process.
Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) : EPA program in which state and/or federal permits are required to restrict emissions from new or modified sources in places where air quality already meets or exceeds primary and secondary ambient air quality standards.
Primary Drinking Water Regulation : Rules that apply to public water systems that state a contaminant level, which, in the judgment of the EPA, will not adversely affect human health.
Primary Effect : An effect where the stressor acts directly on the ecological component of interest, not on other parts of the ecosystem.
Primary Standards : National ambient air quality standards designed to protect human health with an adequate margin for safety
Primary Waste Treatment : First steps in wastewater treatment; screens and sedimentation tanks are used to remove most materials.
Production Tax Credit (PTC) : Provides the owner of a qualifying facility with an annual tax credit based on the amount of electricity that is generated. By focusing on the energy produced instead of capital invested, this type of tax incentive encourages projects that perform adequately.
Public Ttransportation: Various forms of shared-ride services, including buses, vans, trolleys, and subways, which convey the public.
Public Utility Commission (PUC) or Public Services Commission (PSC) : A state government agency responsible for the regulation of public utilities within a state or region. A state legislature oversees the PUC. The PUC focuses on adequate, safe, universal utility service at reasonable rates while also trying to balance the interests of consumers, environmentalists, utilities, and stockholders.
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) : A 1978 federal law that requires electric utilities to purchase electricity produced from certain efficient power producers (frequently using renewable energy or natural gas). Utilities purchase power at a rate equal to the costs they avoid by not generating the power themselves. State regulatory agencies establish the rate based on local conditions.
Pulp : Raw material made from trees used in producing paper products.
Wilson Community College | P.O. Box 4305 • 902 Herring Avenue | Wilson, NC 27893 | Phone: (252) 291-1195 | Fax: (252) 243-7148