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Geography > Alternatives to fossil fuels (cost and benefits) > Flashcards

Alternatives to fossil fuels (cost and benefits) Flashcards

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1
Q

What can help decouple fossil fuels from economic development?

A

Renewables and recyclable energy

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2
Q

How much of global energy production was renewables in 2014?

A

3%

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3
Q

who are the IPCC?

A

international panel on climate change

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4
Q

What did the IPCC conclude about renewables?

A

to reduce human induced climate change share of energy from renewables must be trebled and be the dominant world supply by 2050

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5
Q

How much has solar energy increased since 2014?

A

38.2%

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6
Q

Where is the use of nuclear energy increasing?

A

South Korea
China

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7
Q

Where is the use of nuclear energy decreasing?

A

Japan
Belgium
Germany
UK

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8
Q

What are the benefits of solar?

A

Safe, clean and non-polluting
Can be used by LICs
Links well with other sources of energy
Modular and flexible for use at range of scales

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9
Q

What are the costs of solar?

A

Not enough research and development, especially into storage
Not very effective in cloudy climates
Block sunlight to vegetation below

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10
Q

What are the benefits of wind?

A

Safe, clean and non-polluting

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11
Q

What are the costs of wind?

A

Needs large amount of land to generate the necessary energy
NIMBY issues (people issues- eyesore)
Only runs when wind is at certain speed

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12
Q

What are the benefits of geothermal?

A

safe, clean and non-polluting

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13
Q

What are the costs of geothermal?

A

in extreme cases have been blamed for earthquakes
High capital costs

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14
Q

What are the benefits of HEP?

A

Safe, clean and non-polluting
Can produce electricity immediately on demand
Tourism and recreation opportunities
Dam creates a valley crossing point

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15
Q

What are the costs of HEP?

A

Block fish migration if no fish ladder installed
Susceptible to drought disrupting water supply
Water released from deep behind dam needs re-oxygenating
Farmland, wildlife habitats and heritage sites are flooded

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16
Q

What are the benefits of nuclear?

A

High energy production
Cheap energy once up and running
‘Green’ energy

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17
Q

What are the costs of nuclear?

A

Safety (leaks)
Security of dangerous materials
Supply of scarce raw material
Disposal of waste

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18
Q

What can we learn from the graph for sources of UKs electricity from 1970-2012?

A

Coal is still responsible for a large share
Oil has nearly ceased (too valuable- vehicles)
Proportion of renewables disappointingly small

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19
Q

What can we learn from the graph about the UKs primary energy consumption between 1970-2030?

A

High reliance on oil and gas
Huge shift away from coal
Energy consumption is reducing

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20
Q

Why is it surprising that the UKs energy consumption has dropped?

A

As the population from 1970 has increased by 6.5 million

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21
Q

What reasons has energy consumption dropped in the UK since 1970?

A

More energy efficient technology
More educated on green energy and climate change
Deindustrialisation (less need for coal and heavy fuels)

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22
Q

What are biofuels?

A

Liquid derived from plant and animal matter

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23
Q

What are the 2 main types of biofuel?

A

Bioethanol
Biodiesel

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24
Q

What is Bioethanol?

A

alcohol which is made by fermenting the sugar and starch components of plant materials

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25
Q

How can bioethanol be used?

A

as a fuel for vehicles as a replacement for petrol but it is usually blended with petrol to improve vehicle emissions

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26
Q

What are some examples of bioethanol and petrol mix?

A

E10- cars younger than 2009, 10% ethanol
E85

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27
Q

What is biodiesel?

A

The oils and fats from plants and animal matter can be substituted as a replacement for diesel

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28
Q

What are the advantages of biofuels?

A

Range of source material
Renewability
Security
Economic stimulation
Lower carbon emissions

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29
Q

How is range of source material a advantage of biofuels?

A

petrol limited resource from one source, biofuels can be manufactured from a range of materials

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30
Q

What sort of source materials can biofuels derive from?

A

crop waste
Manure
By-products- chip fat

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31
Q

How is renewability a advantage of biofuels?

A

they can be grown again and again to match needs

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32
Q

How is security a advantage of biofuels?

A

Biofuels can be produced locally, which decreases nations dependence upon foreign energy and make them safe from outside influence

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33
Q

How is economic stimulation a advantage of biofuels?

A

Biofuels are produced locally, manufacturing plants can employ local workers (creates jobs)

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34
Q

How is lower carbon emissions a advantage of biofuels?

A

when biofuels burnt they produce significantly less carbon and toxins
Some are carbon neutral

35
Q

What does carbon neutral mean?

A

only release the same amount of carbon they took in to grow

36
Q

How many gallons of biofuel would feed a person for a year?

A

25

37
Q

What are the disadvantages of biofuels?

A

Energy output
Production emissions
Food prices
water use

38
Q

Why is energy output a disadvantage of biofuels?

A

Biofuels have a lower energy output than fossil fuels and therefore require greater quantities to be consumed in order to produce same amount of energy

39
Q

Why is production emissions a disadvantage of biofuels?

A

whilst cleaner to burn the process to produce biofuels including machinery for cultivation and fuel production have hefty carbon emissions

40
Q

Why is food prices a disadvantage of bio fuels?

A

as demand for food crops such as corn grows for biofuel production it could also raise the prices for necessary staple food crops

41
Q

How much of global biofuels were made from food crops?

A

99%

42
Q

What is an example of biofuels raising food price?

A

Mexico imports 1/3 of corn from USA meaning price affected by change in USA use of corn, riots occurred when the price of tortilla (staple food) increased while minimum wage didn’t

43
Q

Why is water use a disadvantage of biofuels?

A

massive quantities of water are used for irrigation of biofuel crops as well as to manufacture the fuel, could strain local and regional water resources

44
Q

What are 2 alternatives sources for biofuels? (not food crops)

A

Algae
Poo (waste)

45
Q

How much more efficient is algae then its rivals?

A

3 times

46
Q

What type of water can algae be grown in?

A

waste water
seawater
fresh water

47
Q

Where can the CO2 needed to grow algae come from? (increases sustainability)

A

CO2 emissions from powerplants

48
Q

Why is it good that algae can be grown in water? (food prices)

A

don’t use land needed for food allowing food production to increase

49
Q

How is the oil extracted from algae?

A

Algae are harvested and dried (turned into pellets)
Oil then squeezed out

50
Q

What the waste from algae biofuel be used for?

A

Animal or fish food

51
Q

What is an example of poo being used for power?

A

‘poo’ bus from Bath to Bristol airport

52
Q

How can the poo bus go on a full tank?

A

180 miles

53
Q

What is the actual thing that powers the poo bus?

A

Bio-methane

54
Q

How is the fuel of the poo bus created?

A

human waste turned into slurry and then put into tanks where it’s broken down by bacteria (this releases bio-methane)

55
Q

What is the potential of poo power thought to be?

A

17 million m*3 of biomethane

56
Q

What are radical technologies?

A

Potential replacement for fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions

57
Q

What is the uncertainty with radical technology?

A

how effective/ possible they will be

58
Q

What are some examples of radical technologies?

A

Hydrogen fuel cells
Electric vehicles
Carbon capture storage
Nuclear fusion

59
Q

What is the premise with hydrogen fuel cells?

A

use hydrogen to generate electricity

60
Q

What might mean that electric powered vehicles aren’t that clean?

A

If the fuel source used to generate the electricity is coal (dirtiest fossil fuel)

61
Q

Why were hydrogen vehicles originally developed in California?

A

Due to the zero emissions mandate which meant cars couldn’t have any exhaust emissions

62
Q

What is the waste from hydrogen fuel cells?

A

water

63
Q

How much hydrogen gas can a hydrogen vehicle tank hold?

A

4kg

64
Q

What are the safe guards on hydrogen vehicles?

A

hydrogen can emit its self though a vent if temperature gets too extreme to stop risk of explosion

65
Q

What is the range of hydrogen vehicles?

A

160-200 miles

66
Q

What are the top speeds of hydrogen vehicles?

A

85mph

67
Q

What was the original production cost of the first hydrogen vehicles?

A

US$1 million

68
Q

What are the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells?

A

hydrogen gas can be obtained from variety of sources
Only waste product is water
More efficient use of fuel then petrol or diesel

69
Q

What are the disadvantages of hydrogen fuel cells?

A

Hydrogen not found in pure form has to be separated from other compounds requiring a large amount of energy (emits GHG)
Hydrogen tanks need to be strong to withstand impact

70
Q

What is an example of a hydrogen vehicle?

A

Toyota mirai
range of 270 miles

71
Q

What are the positives of electric vehicles?

A

zero carbon emissions from vehicle its self
Minimal noise pollution
Cheap to run

72
Q

What are the negatives of of electric vehicles?

A

More expensive to but then petrol or diesel
So quiet some worried could cause collisions with pedestrians
Source of energy?

73
Q

What eco-friendly energy profiles would suit electric vehicles?

A

Paraguay (HEP)
Iceland (geothermal)

74
Q

What is CCS?

A

carbon capture storage

75
Q

What is the process of CCS?

A

collects CO2 emissions from sources (e.g. industrial and power plants) transports gas, compresses it and injects it into a suitable ecological structure over 800m below ground

76
Q

What happens after carbon has been stored in the geological structure? (CCS)

A

Storage is monitored to ensure safety and no releases into the atmosphere

77
Q

What is the problem with CCS?

A

It is very expensive so not possible for many countries

78
Q

What 2 countries have CCS plants?

A

Norway and Canada

79
Q

What is an example of a CCS plant?

A

2014 Canada opened first coal fired CCS plant at Boundary Dam in Saskatchewan at cost of US$1.3 billion

80
Q

How effective are CCS plants?

A

90% by pumping CO2 underground and selling it to an oil companies for priming nearby oil fields (economically viable)

81
Q

What 2 types of nuclear energy are there?

A

Fission
Fusion

82
Q

How does nuclear fusion work?

A

2 or more atomic nuclei join together to make a new larger nucleus, releasing energy in process

83
Q

What is the problem with nuclear fusion?

A

tech is still experimental and long way from reality

84
Q

Who is researching nuclear fusion?

A

ITER- International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

Geography (103 decks)

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