8) Consuming Energy Resources Flashcards
What are the 3 main categories of energy resources?
Renewable
Non-renewable
Recyclable
What are non-renewable energy sources?
Sources which are not sustainable and cannot be used at the current rate forever
What are examples of non-renewable energy sources?
Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)
What are renewable energy sources?
Sources that are sustainable and can be reused forever
What are examples of renewable energy sources?
Solar
Wind
HEP
What are recyclable energy sources?
Sources created by recycling waste produced by humans to create more energy
What are examples of recyclable energy sources?
Nuclear fuel
Biofuels
What are environmental impacts of mining and drilling for energy sources?
Deforestation
Oil spills
Greenhouse gas emissions
Landscape scarring
What is landscape scarring?
Removing everything on top of a coalfield to then dig the coal
What type of mining is landscape scarring?
Surface mining
What were effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010?
4.9 million barrels leaked into Gulf of Mexico
82,000 birds and 26,000 marine mammals injured or killed
What are impacts of renewable energy on the landscape?
HEP flooding
Land clearing for turbines or solar panels
What are negatives of solar panels?
Habitats destroyed to make space
Reflected heat can disturb animals
What are factors that affect access to energy resources?
Economic factors Technological factors Geological factors Political factors Geographic factors
What economic factors affect access to energy resources?
Some locations are more expensive to extract
More expensive to dig under oceans
Lots of countries have to import oil and prices often change
What technological factors affect access to energy resources?
Fracking is difficult
Some countries lack the educated population
Some countries lack the infrastructure to mine
What geological factors affect access to energy resources?
Fossil fuels are in limited supply
Some countries have lots of oil and some have none
Solar and wind power are impractical if there is a lack of wind or sunlight
What political factors affect access to energy resources?
Lack of institutions and war can stop development
International agreemenets limit the burning of fossil fuels
What geographic factors affect access to energy resources?
Wind energy is only viable for countries with lots of wind
HEP isn’t feasible for flat countries
Harder to dig under impermeable rocks
What is electricity produced in?
Gigawatt hours (GWh)
Which country produces the most electricty in the world?
China (7.1 million GWh)
Why does energy have to be generated locally in LICs?
Lack of national grids of energy infrastructures
Which country consumes the most energy?
China (24%)
What do LICs often use to generate energy?
Biomass
Where are most of the world’s oil reserves found?
The Middle East
What do oil reserves focus on?
Which oil is physically located in a country
What does oil production focus on?
Whether oil is extracted or not
What are opil reserves also known as?
Recoverable oil
What factors affect oil supplies and prices?
Economic
International relations
How do economic factors affect oil supplies and prices?
Booms in economy cause prices to rise
Oil prices fall in recessions
Organisation OPEC works together to determine oil prices