7.1 energy choices and security

Question 1

how are fossil fuels formed?

Answer 1

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing energy.

Question 2

why are fossil fuels used to commonly?

Answer 2

The technological advances in the 20th century made possible the extraction of fossil fuels from the earth commercially viable.

Question 3

what are fossil fuels and can you give examples?

Answer 3

fossil fuels are energy rich carbon compounds and hydrocarbons such as coal, natural gas and petroleum.

Question 4

what are some statistics about fossil fuels?

Answer 4

More than three quarters of the world’s energy consumption comes from fossil fuels.
Of this approximately, 40% of fossil fuels are used in petroleum form, 15 % in natural gas form and 8 % in coal form.

Question 5

what is the most important thing fossil fuels are used for, and what is the contravsery behind them?

Answer 5

Fossil fuels are the main backbone of the industrialization but they have contributed to the burden of environmental pollution significantly. This has resulted in greenhouse gases, acid rain and global climate change. The massive demand for fossil fuels has resulted in depletion of their deposits at an alarming rate..

Question 6

what does non-renewable mean?

Answer 6

Non renewable resources are finite/ irreplaceable or replaceable over geological time scales.

Question 7

what is a renewable energy source?

Answer 7

renewable energy resources are constantly replenished and will never run out.

Question 8

what is the key role of renewable energy reasorces?

Answer 8

Renewable energy plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Question 9

what is the relationship between fossil fuels and re-newable energy?

Answer 9

When renewable energy sources are used, the demand for fossil fuels is reduced.

Question 10

what is the difference between non-biomass renewable sources of energy and fossil fuels, + give examples of non-biomass renewable energy.

Answer 10

Unlike fossil fuels, non-biomass renewable sources of energy (hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar) do not directly emit greenhouse gases.

Question 11

why are re-newable energy reasourses sustainable?

Answer 11

Renewable energy resources are all sustainable as there is no depletion of natural capital. These resources can be large-scale for a whole country or small-scale for houses or communities.

Question 12

what are the benefits of nuclear energy even though it is a nonrenewable source ion energy?

Answer 12

It emits no greenhouse gases, acidic gases, or particulates - linked to, respectively, global warming, environmental degradation

Question 13

what is the main benefit of nuclear energy? (other than no carbon emissions)

Answer 13

The energy output of nuclear fission is the highest of any option today.

Question 14

what is the controversy about using nuclear energy?

Answer 14

threats include health risks and environmental damage from uranium mining, processing and transport, the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation or sabotage, and the unsolved problem of radioactive nuclear waste.

Question 15

what is energy security?

Answer 15

Energy security as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.

Question 16

how does one achieve long term energy security?

Answer 16

long-term energy security mainly deals with timely investments to supply energy in line with economic developments.

Question 17

what is short term energy security?

Answer 17

short-term energy security focuses on the ability of the energy system to react promptly to sudden changes in the supply-demand balance.

Question 18

what is the problem with our contemporary energy supply?

Answer 18

Access to cheap energy. It has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led to significant vulnerabilities.

Question 19

can you give an example of where the uneven distorbition of energy supplies Among counties has lead to significant vunrablities?

Answer 19

The Ukraine-Russia gas dispute in January 2009 caused the largest natural gas supply crisis in Europe’s history. With increasingly integrated electricity grids, blackouts can cascade and affect multiple economies simultaneously.

Question 20

what are the factors that effect the choice of energy source a nation or society uses?

Answer 20

available energy resources, population size, historical energy use, needs of industry, available technology and political direction.

Question 21

why do MEDCS have a higher energy demand than LEDCS?

Answer 21

MEDCs have higher energy demands than LEDCs, as they depend on energy for transport, heating, air-conditioning, cooking and all other aspects of their lives aka lifestyle things.

Question 22

what does a country need to take into consideration when desideding what energy mix is appropriate?

Answer 22

Availability of the supply - domestic or international.
Technology developments - does it already exist? Is there potential?
Politics - can lead to conflict over supplies or choice to use domestic supplies at increased prices to reduce risk.
Economics - cheaper to import or produce
Cultural Attitudes - love of the SUV
Sustainability
Environmental Considerations - is it dangerous?

Question 23

what has energy efficiency proven to be?

Answer 23

Energy efficiency has proved to be a cost-effective strategy for building economies without necessarily increasing energy consumption.

Question 24

what is energy efficiency?

Answer 24

energy effeminacy is the reduction of energy input into a goods and services.

Question 25

what is the effect of reducing energy use?

Answer 25

Reducing energy use reduces energy costs and may result in a financial cost saving to consumers if the energy savings offset any additional costs of implementing an energy efficient technology. Reducing energy use is also seen as a solution to the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Question 26

what are some ways a society can reduce energy use?

Answer 26

eat foods with a lower energy input such as beans.
Reduced transportation or take public transport
Reduction of waste
Improved efficiency of walls and windows
Energy-efficient appliances
Improved building materia