4.1.3 National and Global Energy Resources

Question 1

What are the main energy resources available for use on Earth?

Answer 1

• Fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas)
• Nuclear fuel
• Bio-fuel
• Wind
• geothermal
• hydroelectric
• tidal
• water waves
• sun - solar energy

Question 2

Renewable Energy:

Answer 2

a resource that is being or can be replenished as it is used

Question 3

Non-Renewable Energy:

Answer 3

non-renewable energy comes from sources that will run out or will not be replenished in our lifetimes

Question 4

Renewable Energy Resources:

Answer 4

• Bio-fuel
• Solar
• Wind
• Geothermal
• Hydroelectric
• Tidal
• Wave power

Question 5

Non-Renewable Energy Resources:

Answer 5

• 3 main fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas)
• Nuclear fuel

Question 6

How do solar panels work?

Answer 6

• water heated by radiation
• water used to heat buildings / provide hot water

Question 7

Advantages of solar energy:

Answer 7

• Renewable energy resource
• No fuel costs
• No harmful polluting gases are produced
• E bills will drop
• Can generate electricity/heat
• Can be integrated into buildings
• Low maintenance costs
• Tech constantly being developed

Question 8

Disadvantages of solar energy:

Answer 8

• Use a lot of energy to manufacture
• Often used in remote places where there’s not much choice
• Solar panels may only produce very hot water in very hot climates & cooler areas may need to be supplemented with a conventional boiler
• Some solar panels don’t produce any E at night and don’t work as well on cloudy days
• Unreliable - as weather-dependent and weather is unreliable
• Solar panels can’t store energy so you have to use the electricity they generate when the sun is shining - need batteries to store the energy generated and these are expensive
• Expensive to manufacture
• Transportation + installation = pollution
• Harmful materials used in manufacturing

Question 9

How do wind turbines work?

Answer 9

Each turbine has a generator inside it - the rotating blades turn the generator and produce electricity

Question 10

Advantages of using wind as an energy resource:

Answer 10

• No permanent damage done to landscape
• Renewable, clean and unlimited resource
• Wind power creates no carbon emissions
• Electricity from wind power is cheap once turbines are set up - no fuel costs, minimal running costs
• Efficient

Question 11

Disadvantages of using wind as an energy resource:

Answer 11

• Pollution when the wind turbines are manufactured
• Noise pollution
• Initial manufacturing costs are quite high
• Need approx. 1500 wind turbines to replace one coal-fired power station
• Weather dependent and wind is unreliable so it is an unreliable energy resource
  
  • When there is no wind, wind farms can’t generate any electricity
  • Can’t increase power output when there is an increase in demand
• Wind farms can harm birds that nest or fly through the area - can harm flying animals
• Some people think wind farms spoil the view of the seascape/landscape
• Remote

Question 12

How does geothermal energy work?

Answer 12

• Using geothermal energy as a resource is possible in volcanic areas or where hot rocks lie quite near to the surface
• The source of much of the energy is the slow decay of various radioactive elements, inc. uranium, deep inside the Earth

Question 13

Advantages of geothermal energy:

Answer 13

• Free energy
• Can be used to generate electricity or heat buildings directly
• Reliable - not weather-dependent
• Does very little damage to the environment
• Renewable - because its source is the almost unlimited amount of heat generated by the Earth’s core

Question 14

Disadvantages of geothermal energy:

Answer 14

• Aren’t very many suitable locations for geothermal power plants
• The cost of building a power plant is often huge compared to the amount of energy it produces

Question 15

How does bio-fuel work?

Answer 15

• Bio-fuels are renewable energy resources created from either plant products or animal dung
• They can be solid, liquid or gas and can be burnt to produce electricity or run cars in the same way as fossil fuels

Question 16

Advantages of bio-fuels:

Answer 16

• Supposedly carbon neutral - although are only carbon neutral if you’re growing plants at the same rate that you’re burning them
• Bio-fuels are fairly reliable, as crops take a relatively short time to grow and different crops can be grown all year round

Question 17

Disadvantages of bio-fuels:

Answer 17

• Not very responsive - cannot respond to immediate energy demands, to combat this, bio-fuels are continuously produced and stored for when they are needed
• The cost to refine bio-fuels is very high and some worry that growing crops specifically for bio-fuels will mean there isn’t enough space or water to meet the demands for crops that are grown for food
• Environment destroyed - some regions, large areas of forest have been cleared to make room to grow bio-fuels, resulting in lots of species losing their natural habitats
• Decay and burning of this vegetation also increases CO2 and methane emissions

Question 18

How does tidal energy work?

Answer 18

• Tides are used in lots of ways to generate electricity - most common building is a tidal barrage
• Tidal barrages are big dams built across river estuaries with turbines in them
• As the tide comes in it fills up the estuary
• The water is then allowed out through turbines at a controlled speed
• Tides are produced by the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon

Question 19

Advantages of tidal energy:

Answer 19

• No pollution - no GHG emissions
• Predictable, renewable source of E
• Can easily be switched on - responsive
• Inexpensive in long run
• Can meet peak E demand
• Quite reliable in the sense that tides occur twice a day without fail and always near to the predicted height
• No fuel costs and minimal running costs
• Even though it can only be used in the most suitable estuaries tidal power has the potential for generating a significant amount of the energy used

Question 20

Disadvantages of tidal energy:

Answer 20

• Preventing free access by boats
• Spoiling the view - may reduce tourism
• Tidal barrages destroy/alter the habitat of estuary species inc. wading birds, sea creatures and animals that live in the sand
• Blocks water flow
• Can be slightly unreliable as the height of the tide is variable so lower (neap) tides will produce significantly less E than bigger ‘spring’ tides
• Tidal barrages don’t work when the water level is the same either side of the barrage - happens 4 times a day because of the tides
• Initial costs of manufacturing the turbines and building are quite expensive
• Can only be used in the most suitable estuaries

Question 21

How does hydroelectricity work?

Answer 21

• Hydroelectricity power uses falling water to generate electricity
• Water is allowed out through turbines

Question 22

Advantages of hydroelectric (energy) dams:

Answer 22

• No GHG emissions
• Predictable renewable source
• Responsive - can provide an immediate response to an increased demand for electricity
• Reliable
• Useful way to generate electricity on a small scale in remote areas
• Manufacturing and building of the dam is expensive - costs high
• Putting hydroelectric power stations in valleys tends to reduce their impact on humans

Question 23

Disadvantages of hydroelectric (energy) dams:

Answer 23

• Hydroelectric dams flood farmland pushing people out of their homes or it floods valleys
• Blocks water flow
• Rotting vegetation underwater releases methane which is a GHG
• Not reliable in times of drought
• Reservoirs can look very unsightly when the dry up

Question 24

How does wave power work?

Answer 24

Needs lots of small wave - powered by turbines located around the coast

Question 25

Advantages of wave power:

Answer 25

• No pollution - no GHG’s emitted
• Renewable
• No fuel costs and minimal running costs
• Wave power never likely to provide energy on a large scale but can be very useful on small islands

Question 26

Disadvantages of wave power:

Answer 26

• Disturbs the seabed and habitats of marine animals
• Spoils the view - possible reducing tourism
• Hazard to boats\
• Fairly unreliable as it is weather dependent - waves tend to die out when the wind drops
• Initial costs in manufacturing and setting the turbine up are high
• Difficult to scale up the designs for wave machines to produce large amounts of electricity

Question 27

Advantages of coal:

Answer 27

• Coal is a ready made fuel which is cheap to mine and convert to electricty
• Lasts longer than oil or gas
• Reliable - not weather dependent
• Abundance of coal
• Advanced tech and infrastructure already in place for coal
• Easy to access new materials
• Storage is simple

Question 28

Disadvantages of coal:

Answer 28

• When burned coal gives off atmospheric pollutants inc. GHG’s
• Not green, sustainable, or renewable
• Air pollution causes acid rain
• Dependence on foreign countries
• Not much room for improvement
• Requires mining
• Harmful by-products
• Non-renewable
• Finite
• Coal, oil and gas release CO2 into the atmosphere when they’re burned - all this CO2 contributes to the greenhouse gas effect, and contributes to global warming
• Burning coal and oil also releases SO2 which causes acid rain - which can be harmful to trees and soils and can have far-reaching effects in ecosystems
  
  • Acid rain can be reduced by taking sulfur out before the fuel is burned, or cleaning up the emissions
• Coal mining makes a mess of the landscape, especially ‘open-cast mining’ - as with many energy resources, the view can be spoilt by fossil fuel power plants

Question 29

Describe the use of oil in the UK:

Answer 29

• Oil is a fossil fuel and was formed millions of years ago
• The amount of electricity from oil has declined steadily since its peak in the 1990s when it contributed to nearly 1/5 of the UK’s supply
• Since 2014 oil has supplies less than 1% of the UK’s electricity

Question 30

Advantages of oil:

Answer 30

• Oil is a ready-made fuel which is cheap to extract and convert into electricity
• It is used in industry and transport
• Fossil fuels have been used for many years and so they are easy to use
• They generate large amounts of energy relatively cheaply
• infrastructure and tech already set up for oil

Question 31

Disadvantages of oil:

Answer 31

• When burned, it gives off atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse gases
• There is a limited supply of oil - finite
• non-renewable
• Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, adding toglobal warming
• The UK is dependent on prices set by other countries.
• coal, oil and gas release CO2 into the atmosphere when they’re burned - all this CO2 contributes to the greenhouse gas effect, and contributes to global warming
• burning coal and oil also releases SO2 which causes acid rain - which can be harmful to trees and soils and can have far-reaching effects in ecosystems
  
  • acid rain can be reduced by taking sulfur out before the fuel is burned, or cleaning up the emissions
• oil spillages cause serious environmental problems, affecting mammals and birds that live in and around the sea

Question 32

Advantages of natural gas:

Answer 32

• ready-made fuel
• relatively cheap
• used in houses for heating and cooking
• slightly cleaner than coal and oil
• reliable - not weather dependent
• has infrastructure and tech already developed for it
• relatively safe
• less harmful waste by-products
• can be accessed in other countries

Question 33

Disadvantages of natural gas:

Answer 33

• when burned it gives off atmospheric pollutants i.c GHG’s
• non-renewable
• finite
• air pollution
• ozone depletion
• gas leaks are hard to detect
• transportation might be dangerous
• high initial costs]requires running
• coal, oil and gas release CO2 into the atmosphere when they’re burned - all this CO2 contributes to the greenhouse gas effect, and contributes to global warming

Question 34

Advantages of nuclear energy:

Answer 34

• unlike fossil fuels nuclear fuels don’t produce CO2 or SO2
• 1kg of nuclear fuels produces millions times more energy than 1kg of coal
• cheap to run
• not intermitten
• reliable - not weather dependent
• carbon-free
• small land footprint
• high power output

Question 35

Disadvantages of nuclear energy:

Answer 35

• Like fossil fuels, nuclear fuels arenon-renewable energy resources
• Although modern reactor designs are extremely safe, if there is an accident, large amounts of radioactive material could be released into the environment
• Nuclear waste remains radioactive and is hazardous to health for thousands of years, so it must be stored safely

Question 36

Uses of energy include:

Answer 36

• Transportation
• Generating Electricity
• Heating

Question 37

Uses of energy include: Transportation

Answer 37

• petrol and diesel powered vehicles use fuel created from oil
• coal is used ins one old-fashioned steam trains to boil water to produce steam
• some vehicles run on pure bio-fuels or a mix of a bio-fuel and petrol or diesel

Question 38

Uses of energy include: Heating

Answer 38

• Natural gas is the most widely used fuel for heating homes in the UK. The gas is used to heat water, which is then pumped into radiators throughout the home.
• coal is commonly burnt in fireplaces
• electric heaters (sometimes called storage heaters) which use electricity generated from non-renewable energy resources
• a geothermal heat pump uses geothermal energy resources to heat buildings
• solar water heaters work by using the sun. to heat water which is pumped into radiators in the building
• burning bio-fuel or using electricity generated from renewable resources can also be used for heating

Question 39

Describe the reliability of non-renewable sources of energy:

Answer 39

• fossils uels and nuclear energy and reliable
• currently enough fossil fuels and nuclear energy to meet current demand and are extracted from the Earth at aa fast enough rate that power plants always have fuel in stock - means power plants can respond quickly to changes in demand
• non-renewable fuels slowly running out - if no new resources are found some fossil fuels may run out within 100 years
• while set-up costs of power plants can be quite high compared to some other energy resources, the running costs aren’t that expensive, combined with daily low fuel extraction costs using fossil fuels is a cost effective way to produce energy

Question 40

Environmental problems caused by fossil fuels:

Answer 40

• coal, oil and gas release CO2 into the atmosphere when they’re burned - all this CO2 contributes to the greenhouse gas effect, and contributes to global warming
• burning coal and oil also releases SO2 which causes acid rain - which can be harmful to trees and soils and can have far-reaching effects in ecosystems
• acid rain can be reduced by taking sulfur out before the fuel is burned, or cleaning up the emissions
• coal mining makes a mess of the landscape, especially ‘open-cast mining’ - as with many energy resources, the view can be spoilt by fossil fuel power plants
• oil spillages cause serious environmental problems, affecting mammals and birds that live in and around the sea

Question 41

Environmental problems caused by nuclear energy:

Answer 41

• nuclear power is clean but the nuclear waste is very dangerous and difficult to dispose of
• nuclear fuel (e.g. uranium and plutonium) is relatively cheap but the overall cost of nuclear power is high due to the coast of the power plant and final decommissioning
• nuclear power always carries the risk of a major catastrophe like the Fukushima disaster in Japan

Question 42

What can science do about environmental problems caused by energy resources?

Answer 42

science has the ability to identify environmental issues arising from the use of energy resources but not always the power to deal with the issues because of political, social, ethical or economic considerations

Question 43

Describe the patterns in UK’s use of energy resources over time:

Answer 43

• over the 20th C the electricity use of the UK has hugely increased as the population increased and people began to use electricity for more things
• since beginning of 21st C, electricity use in the UK has been slowly decreasing - as appliances become more efficient & as people become more careful with their energy usage at home
• some of the UK’s electricity is produced using fossil fuels and from nuclear power
• fossil fuels are burnt for electricity and for transports (e.g. oil - diesel and petrol)
• UK is increasing its use of renewable energy resources

Question 44

Why do people want to use more renewable energy resources?

Answer 44

• damaging to the environment - making people want to use renewable energy resources that affect the environment less
• people & gov’s becoming increasingly aware that non-renewables will run out - many think it’s better to get by with non-renewables before this happens

Question 45

Why have gov’s began to set targets for the use renewable resources?

Answer 45

• because of pressure from other countries and the public
• this in turn puts pressure on energy providers to build new power plants that use renewable resources to make sure they don’t lose business and money
• car companies also affected by this change of attitude - electric cars & hybrids on the market and increasing in popularity

Question 46

What is the use of renewables limited by?

Answer 46

• reliability
• money
• politics

Question 47

Why are energy providers reluctant to switch to renewable energy resources?

Answer 47

• building new renewable power plants costs a lot of money and fossil fuels are so cost effective
• cost of switching to renewable power will either have to be paid either by customers or through gov and taxes - some people don’t want to or can’t afford to pay, arguments over whether it’s ethical to make them
• arguments over where to put power plants e.g. many people don’t want to live next to wind farms = protests, arguments over whether its ethical for people to put up with wind farm next to them when they may not agree with the reasons for its use
• some E sources e.g. wind power aren’t as reliable as fossil fuels, whilst others cannot increase their output upon demand - lack of responsiveness
• cost of non-renewable energy options going down but still many can’t afford them e.g. electric/hybrid cars, solar panels etc.