6.6c radical technologies

Question 1

hydrogen fuel cells

Answer 1

use hydrogen gas to power an electric motor

fuel cells are more efficient than a petrol/ diesel engine!!
fuel cells can be used a source of heating and electricity for buildings

an engine that burns pure hydrogen produces almost no pollution

BUT
the processes to separate hydrogen from the other components requires large amounts of energy and may emit large quantities of greenhouse gases

and hydrogen is difficult and expensive to store and distribute

Question 2

electrical vehicles

Answer 2

• zero carbon emissions
• virtually no noise pollution
• cheap to run
• Tesla has manufactured electric cars since 2008
• in 2016 it announced its third model and within 3 days it received 276,000 pre-orders
• over 3,900 public charging locations in the UK

BUT
- the biggest disadvantage is how the electricity is created to charge the batteries
eco-friendly - Paraguay (hydroelectric) and Iceland (geothermal)
India and Australia (coal)

• need to be recharged frequently

Question 3

carbon capture and storage

Answer 3

can capture up to 90% of the CO2 emissions produced from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial processes
and prevents the CO2 from entering the atmosphere

IEA states that CCS could reduce global CO2 emissions by 19%

CCS causes the greatest savings in emissions where coal is being used to generate electricity bc coal is cheap and abundant

North America has the largest number of CCS projects (18 large-scale projects)

Question 4

challenges with CCS

Answer 4

• future costs and financial risks of implementing CCS are very uncertain
  
  • expensive (complex technology involved)
  • no one can be sure that the CO2 will stay trapped underground and that it will not gradually leak into the surface and enter the atmosphere