19. Resource Management

Question 1

What is the general trend for food demand in the UK?

Answer 1

• because the population is rising the demand for food is rising
• The UK imports aroynd 40% of its food

Question 2

What are food miles?

Answer 2

• distance travelled by food imported to a different country

Question 3

What is the impact of importing food?

Answer 3

• expensive (air transport as food goes bad )
• Adds to carbon footprint(energy for commercual farming + transport)

Question 4

Describe the Kenya Vegetable case study (what, who, where,why)

Answer 4

• growing of vegetables such as mangetout is a large source of income for Kenya
• UK consumers are willing to pay more even when they are not in season for them
• Kenyan farmers earn very little(12%) of the cost compared to the supermarket which earns 45%

Question 5

What are the 2 ways the UK is responding to the food challenges?

Answer 5

• due to concern over dependency on foreign food imports, the UK is trying to source food locally by:
• Agribusiness - farms run as commercial businesses, with modern tech and chemicals
• Organic Produce - grown without chemicals and more expensive

Question 6

What is the Lynford House agribusiness case study?

Answer 6

• flat fertile land is intensively farmed to maximise crop yield and profit
• chemicals are widely used
• machinery costs are high but make the farm very efficient
• invested in a resovoir

Question 7

What is the Riverford Organic farm case study?

Answer 7

• supplies locals in Devon with organic food and dairy weekly
• reduces food miles, supports local farmers, provides local employment and builds a stronger link betweeen consumer and grower

Question 8

What is the general trend for water demand in the UK?

Answer 8

• increasing as population is growing, more houses are being built and an increase in use of water intensive domestic appliances
• 21% of water is wasted through leakage

Question 9

What is the distribution of water in the UK?

Answer 9

• the north and west of the UK have a water surplus due to high rainfall and low population density
• the south and the east have high pop density and low rainfall leading to water stress

Question 10

How can we save water?

Answer 10

• use of domestic water meters
• inceasing use of recycled water
• more efficient domestic applicances
• waste water/grey water can be recycled (like from the sink can be used in the toilet)

Question 11

What are the 3 reasons to oppose water transfer?

Answer 11

• effect on land and wildlife (river habitats)
• high costs
• greenhosue gases released in pumping water over long distances

Question 12

What is water transfer?

Answer 12

• movement of water from an area of high supply to an area of high demand

Question 13

In what 5 ways does the environment agency manage water quality?

Answer 13

1. monitoring the river water quality
2. filtering water for sediment
3. purifying water using chlorine
4. restricted recreational use on the uses of water
5. strict regulations on water use

Question 14

How can some water sources be contaminated?

Answer 14

1. leaching from underground old mines
2. discharge from industrial sites
3. runoff from chemical fertilisers from farms
4. water used for power station cooling released back into rivers

Question 15

What is the general trend in energy demand in the UK?

Answer 15

• energy consumption has fallen while energy demand has increased as there has been a decline in heavy industry and an increase in energy conservation

Question 16

How has the UK’s energy supply mix changed?

Answer 16

• gone from dependent on fossil fuels (mainly coal) to large amounts of power through renewable sources (mainly wind)

Question 17

What is the main reason behind the UK’s energy mix switch?

Answer 17

• large amounts of fossil fuel reserves have been used, and there has been a large decline in coal
• the UK is not energy self sufficient

Question 18

What is fracking?

Answer 18

• the process of removing reserves of natural gas from from shale rocks by using high pressure liquids to fracture the shale and release the gas

Question 19

State 3 reasons why fracking is controversial

Answer 19

• possibility of earthquakes
• pollution of underground water sources
• high costs of extraction

Question 20

What is the defintion of a resource?

Answer 20

• a stock or supply of something that has value or purpose (mainly food, water and energy)

Question 21

How many people in the world have malnutriton or are malnourished?

Answer 21

• 2 billion have malnutrition
• 1 billion are malnourished

Question 22

What are the 2 types of water scarcity and where?

Answer 22

1. Physical Water scarcity - lack of water such as deserts (middle east mainly)
2. Economic Water Scarcity - cannot afford to exploit water supplies (Africa, asia, SA and Austrailia)

Question 23

There is large difference in usage of energy and water between…

Answer 23

…LIC’s to HIC’s