Green Glossary – F
- Facility Response Plan
- A detailed plan that must be prepared in accordance with the EPA's Oil Pollution Prevention regulations. The plan must contain an Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP) and demonstrate that a facility has the resources to respond to a worst-case scenario oil spill.
- Fair Trade
- An alternative approach to conventional trade that aims to provide higher compensation for farmers and producers in developing countries.
- Flaring
- Controlled burn-off of gas that must be released from an oil producing facility for safety reasons. To be consistent with good environmental practice, facilities must minimize flaring or ensure that their flaring system is highly efficient.
- Flex Fuel Vehicles of FFVs
- Flex (short for flexible) Fuel Vehicles are powered by a mix of gasoline and ethanol that can run up to 85 percent ethanol content (E85).
- Fluorocarbons or FCs
- Organic compounds bonded together by carbon and fluorine, FCs were once used extensively in the US as aerosol propellants for domestic products but today they are used mainly for industrial purposes such as industrial coolants.
- Food Irradiation
- The process of destroying microorganisms, bacteria, viruses and insects in food products through ionizing radiation. To be clear, irradiation does not cause food to be radioactive. The effect of food irradiation is damage to DNA so that spoilage-causing microorganisms cannot survive or proliferate.
- Food Waste
- Uneaten food and food preparation wastes from residences and commercial establishments such as grocery stores, restaurants, and produce stands, institutional cafeterias and kitchens, and industrial sources like employee lunchrooms.
- Footprint Intensity
- The number of global hectares required to produce a given quantity of resource or absorb a given quantity of waste, usually expressed as global hectares per ton.
- Footprint Intensity Table
- A collection of the primary and secondary product footprint intensities from the National Footprint Accounts.
- Footprint Neutral/Negative
- Human activities or services that result in no increase or a net reduction in man's ecological footprint.
- Forest Management
- A branch of forestry that deals with the administrative, economic, legal and social aspects of forest regulation. It aims to establish forestry practices in aid of sustainable forest management and at times also economic viability.
- Formaldehyde
- A chemical widely used in manufacturing and industrial processes that has been classified as an environmental pollutant and a type of indoor air pollutant.
- Fossil Fuels
- Fossil fuels are fuels found in the earth’s strata that are derived from the fossilized remains of animal and plant matter over millions of years.
- Free Range
- A method of growing livestock where animals are free to roam a farm area rather than being cooped-up in tight cages.
- Freeganism
- An alternative lifestyle that goes against consumerism. The term combines the words free and vegan. Freeganism involves living on salvaged goods including food from supermarket dumpsters.
- Freshwater Conservation
- The concerted effort to protect fresh water ecosystems that include lakes and rivers. Bodies of fresh water are a valuable resource as they water our crops, provide fish, power factories and carry goods to market.
- Freshwater Spill
- An oil spill that occurs in, or affects bodies of freshwater, such as lakes and rivers. They are typically smaller in scale by comparison, but freshwater spills are also a significant environmental concern.
- Fuel Cell
- A fuel cell is an electrochemical device in which hydrogen is combined with oxygen to produce electricity with heat and water vapor as by products.
- Fugitive Emissions
- Air emissions that are not released through stacks, vents, ducts, pipes, or any other confined air stream. These irregular, unintended gas releases result mainly from industrial activities.
- Fugitive Release
- The total of all air pollution releases that did not come confined process streams such as factory or car exhausts. Fugitive release come from small leaks but when combined contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.
