2-C The Challenge of Resource Management Flashcards
Why is food, water and energy significant to economic and social well-being?
Food - ‘calories in’ must equal ‘calories out’ in order for our body to fuel itself. The number of calories required depends on the person.
Water - water is required to drink to survive, but it is also used to dispose of waste, to grow and process our food and in industrial manufacturing processes. Nearly 75% of the water used in the UK is used in industry
Energy - energy is required for almost every action today. The amount of energy required per person depends on their wealth. Originally, we used to use naturally burning fuels, but today we try to use renewable energy.
Describe the global inequalities in the supply and consumption of food
Average calorie consumption in a country like the UK is 3,200 calories per person.
Average calorie consumption in a country like Somalia is 1,580 calories per person.
Describe the global inequalities in the supply and consumption of water
Average global water footprint is 1,240 litres per person.
The water footprint of the USA is 2,483 litres per person.
The water footprint of Bangladesh is 896 litres per person
Economic water scarcity - when countries have water, but not enough money to access it, like Sudan.
Physical water scarcity - when countries have enough water to access water, but don’t have any, like Saudi Arabia
Describe the global inequalities in the supply and consumption of energy?
Energy consumption varies considerably per country.
The richest one billion people consume 50% of the world’s energy
The poorest one billion people consume 4% of the world’s energy
Why is demand for such resources growing?
The demand has increased as we develop new processes, new products and change our way of life. As LICs and NEEs develop too, their demand increases. China increased their energy consumption by 53% between 2003 and 2011
How has the UK’s demand for food changed?
Before, people ate what was seasonal and sourced in the UK. For example, people would only eat fruit and vegetables in the season that they were grown in.
However, now people eat fruit and vegetables all year round and enjoy exotic fruits. Instead of these fruit and vegetables being grown in the UK, they are often imported cheaply from elsewhere. In 2013, 47% of the UK’s food was imported.
Also, there has been an increase in demand for organic produce since the 1990s. Organic produce is produced by a type of farming which does not use chemicals
What are the impacts of the UK’s demand for imported food?
Impact on UK Population
- The population get to eat whatever fruit or vegetable they want throughout the year
- They tend to be expensive as they are either high value or because they are out of season
Impact on the LICs
Costs
- Less land for locals to grow food to eat
- They often require lots of water in places that don’t have much water
Benefits
- Jobs are created which supply wages for local people
- The governments can tax their population to fund facilities
Why does the UK population prefer to eat organic produce and what impacts does it have?
Many believe that organic products were better as they:
- contain less chemicals and pesticides
- it is natural and unprocessed
- it is healthier for them
Organic produce tends to be more expensive as yields are lower, but they consumers are willing to pay more as they apparently taste better. Today, 75% of organic produce is sold in supermarkets and the others are sold in local farmers’ markets and in vegetable box schemes.
Why is there a large carbon footprint from exporting food and what are its impacts?
Every year, the UK adds over 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to transport the food. However, transport only makes up 65% of this. The others are from growing the food. For example, growing tomatoes in Spain creates a smaller carbon footprint than growing tomatoes in the UK due to the greenhouses used.
Also, different transport methods release different amounts of carbon dioxide. For example, planes release 100 times more carbon dioxide than boats do.
How can we reduce the carbon footprint of food?
We have to reduce the amount of imported food:
- Eating seasonal produce grown in the UK
- Only importing food that can’t be grown in the UK and only importing it by plane if we have to. Many supermarkets (e.g. Co-operative) only sell British meat
- Growing food locally in your home or in your town will reduce the distance travelled
What is agribusiness and what are its impacts?
Agribusiness refers to treating food production from farms like a large industrial business.
Benefits:
- Increased production of food means that they are cheaper to the consumer, which allows low-market consumers to eat them too
Cons:
- They have significant impacts on the environment. They require lots of space, so they clear many habitats
- They impact local food production. e.g. there has been a decline in agricultural employment in isolated areas due to the increase of farm land in East Anglia over the last 40 years
How has the demand for water changed in the UK?
England does not get as much water as some other European countries. e.g. London gets less rainfall than Rome. Also, the amount of water used by each household has increased by 70% since 1985.
This increase is due to:
- increased use of domestic appliances (e.g. dishwashers)
- increased industrial production
- increased use of greenhouses
Where are the areas of water deficit and surplus in the UK?
1/3 of the population lives in the SE of England, which is where it is the driest. This is the major area of water deficit as it undergoes serious water stress.
Wales is an area of water surplus as they have a low population density, but high rainfall.
What are water transfer schemes and why are they needed?
The government has considered creating a national water grid which would supply water from Wales to London.
There are some concerns of it:
- It would have an enormous cost
- the environment of the river basin in the source area would be impacted
- carbon emissions would increase due to energy require to pump water over long distances
Smaller water transfers within the UK
- The reservoirs in North wales and the Lake District provide water for urban areas in the NW of England (Liverpool and Manchester)
- Water from the Kielder Dam in Northumberland is pumped into the 3 major rivers which supply water to Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough
How does water pollution affect the UK?
- Toxic waste can poison wildlife, which can be transferred to humans
- Increased fertilisers in the water may cause eutrophication
- Microbacteria in sewage can cause the spread of infectious diseases in aquatic life, animals and humans
How is the water quality managed in the UK?
Legislation - UK and EU have laws which ensure that factories and farms limit the amount of water put into rivers
Education Campaigns - they inform the public the damage caused by putting inappropriate items into sewage systems and what they should do with them instead
Waste Water Treatments - local water treatment plants remove suspended solids, bacteria, algae, chemicals and minerals to produce clean water.
Pollution Traps - they are used to catch and filter out the pollution e.g. reed beds
How has the energy mix within the UK changed?
Previously, the UK produced enough energy to power homes and industry. They had large reserves of oil and gas, but the reduction of these reserves and slower rates of coal production has caused the UK to import these. The production of coal, gas and oil has reduced and due to policies, the use of them has also been reduced. Due to EU regulations, many coal-powered stations were shut down.
The government have encouraged investment in renewable energy sources. However, the UK still uses fossil fuels primarily due to the cheap costs of them and the unreliable nature of renewable energy sources.
How has the use of coal, gas and oil changed within domestic supplies?
They have reduced. The average household uses 12% less energy than we did in 1970 and the industry sector uses 60% less. However, there has been an increase in the transport sector as the number of cars on the road has increased - there are 27 million today.
This reduction in domestic energy consumption can be explained by:
- energy-efficient devices (e.g. light bulbs and washing machines)
- increasing awareness of the public to save energy
- increasing cost of energy
What are the economic and environmental opportunities and challenges of the use of fossil fuels?
Economic Challenges
- lots of the remaining coal are in hard-to-access areas
- the last coal mine was shut in 2015, so it must be imported
Economic Opportunities
- creation of jobs directly in support industries and in the manufacture of equipment - multiplier effect
Environmental Challenges
- burning fossil fuels create greenhouse gases
- waste heaps from coal mining can cause environmental problems
- Opencast coal mines create dust and noise, which can disturb local people and wildlife
Environmental Opportunities
- carbon captive storage is more efficient but expensive
What are the economic and environmental opportunities and challenges of the use of nuclear power?
Economic Challenges
- cost of building nuclear power stations are huge
- there are enormous costs to store and transport waste
Economic Opportunities
- create jobs in the research and development
- once the initial investment has been made, it is cheaper to use nuclear power
Environmental Challenges
- waste must be stored safely to avoid contamination
- environment is considerably more dangerous if an accident occurs as they radiation would be released
Environmental Opportunities
- it is cleaner and less polluting than fossil fuel use
What are the economic and environmental opportunities and challenges of the use of renewable sources?
Economic Challenges
- high-set up costs of sources in remote areas
- they often create low profits
Economic Opportunities
- many jobs are created in the manufacture and research of these sources
Environmental Challenges
- wind turbine can impact bird migration
- wind turbine and associated roads can impact remote areas
- turbine are noisy and can disturb people and wildlife
Environmental Opportunities
- They produce much lower carbon emissions
- Offshore wind turbines can act as an artificial reef, which can create habitats for marine wildlife
What are the economic and environmental opportunities and challenges of the use of fracking?
Economic Challenges
- it requires high quantities of water, which can impact water supplies in some areas
Economic Opportunities
- increase in government revenues and more jobs are created
Environmental Challenges
- it can lead to pollution of ground water and contaminate drinking water
- it has been linked to low-level earthquakes
Environmental Opportunities
- reduction in levels of air pollution, which has both social benefits and environmental benefits
How is global energy production distributed?
It is uneven
Some countries produce lots of energy as they have large energy reserves and money to exploit them:
- Iran, Saudi Arabia - large oil reserves
- China, Australia - large coal reserves
Some countries produce little energy as they have few resources or are unable to exploit their resources
- Sudan - politically unstable and little money
- Ireland - few resources that can be exploited
How is global energy consumption distributed?
It is uneven
Wealthy countries tend to consume lots of energy as each person can afford it. Most people in wealthy countries have access to electricity and heating, and use energy-intensive devices
Poorer countries consume less energy per person as they are less able to afford it. Less energy is available and lifestyles are less dependent on energy consumption
