Alternatives to fossil fuels (cost and benefits) Flashcards
What can help decouple fossil fuels from economic development?
Renewables and recyclable energy
How much of global energy production was renewables in 2014?
3%
who are the IPCC?
international panel on climate change
What did the IPCC conclude about renewables?
to reduce human induced climate change share of energy from renewables must be trebled and be the dominant world supply by 2050
How much has solar energy increased since 2014?
38.2%
Where is the use of nuclear energy increasing?
South Korea
China
Where is the use of nuclear energy decreasing?
Japan
Belgium
Germany
UK
What are the benefits of solar?
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
What are the costs of solar?
Not enough research and development, especially into storage
Not very effective in cloudy climates
Block sunlight to vegetation below
What are the benefits of wind?
Safe, clean and non-polluting
What are the costs of wind?
Needs large amount of land to generate the necessary energy
NIMBY issues (people issues- eyesore)
Only runs when wind is at certain speed
What are the benefits of geothermal?
safe, clean and non-polluting
What are the costs of geothermal?
in extreme cases have been blamed for earthquakes
High capital costs
What are the benefits of HEP?
Safe, clean and non-polluting
Can produce electricity immediately on demand
Tourism and recreation opportunities
Dam creates a valley crossing point
What are the costs of HEP?
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
What are the benefits of nuclear?
High energy production
Cheap energy once up and running
‘Green’ energy
What are the costs of nuclear?
Safety (leaks)
Security of dangerous materials
Supply of scarce raw material
Disposal of waste
What can we learn from the graph for sources of UKs electricity from 1970-2012?
Coal is still responsible for a large share
Oil has nearly ceased (too valuable- vehicles)
Proportion of renewables disappointingly small
What can we learn from the graph about the UKs primary energy consumption between 1970-2030?
High reliance on oil and gas
Huge shift away from coal
Energy consumption is reducing
Why is it surprising that the UKs energy consumption has dropped?
As the population from 1970 has increased by 6.5 million
What reasons has energy consumption dropped in the UK since 1970?
More energy efficient technology
More educated on green energy and climate change
Deindustrialisation (less need for coal and heavy fuels)
What are biofuels?
Liquid derived from plant and animal matter
What are the 2 main types of biofuel?
Bioethanol
Biodiesel
What is Bioethanol?
alcohol which is made by fermenting the sugar and starch components of plant materials
How can bioethanol be used?
as a fuel for vehicles as a replacement for petrol but it is usually blended with petrol to improve vehicle emissions
What are some examples of bioethanol and petrol mix?
E10- cars younger than 2009, 10% ethanol
E85
What is biodiesel?
The oils and fats from plants and animal matter can be substituted as a replacement for diesel
What are the advantages of biofuels?
Range of source material
Renewability
Security
Economic stimulation
Lower carbon emissions
How is range of source material a advantage of biofuels?
petrol limited resource from one source, biofuels can be manufactured from a range of materials
What sort of source materials can biofuels derive from?
crop waste
Manure
By-products- chip fat
How is renewability a advantage of biofuels?
they can be grown again and again to match needs
How is security a advantage of biofuels?
Biofuels can be produced locally, which decreases nations dependence upon foreign energy and make them safe from outside influence
How is economic stimulation a advantage of biofuels?
Biofuels are produced locally, manufacturing plants can employ local workers (creates jobs)
How is lower carbon emissions a advantage of biofuels?
when biofuels burnt they produce significantly less carbon and toxins
Some are carbon neutral
What does carbon neutral mean?
only release the same amount of carbon they took in to grow
How many gallons of biofuel would feed a person for a year?
25
What are the disadvantages of biofuels?
Energy output
Production emissions
Food prices
water use
Why is energy output a disadvantage of biofuels?
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
Why is production emissions a disadvantage of biofuels?
whilst cleaner to burn the process to produce biofuels including machinery for cultivation and fuel production have hefty carbon emissions
Why is food prices a disadvantage of bio fuels?
as demand for food crops such as corn grows for biofuel production it could also raise the prices for necessary staple food crops
How much of global biofuels were made from food crops?
99%
What is an example of biofuels raising food price?
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
Why is water use a disadvantage of biofuels?
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
What are 2 alternatives sources for biofuels? (not food crops)
Algae
Poo (waste)
How much more efficient is algae then its rivals?
3 times
What type of water can algae be grown in?
waste water
seawater
fresh water
Where can the CO2 needed to grow algae come from? (increases sustainability)
CO2 emissions from powerplants
Why is it good that algae can be grown in water? (food prices)
don’t use land needed for food allowing food production to increase
How is the oil extracted from algae?
Algae are harvested and dried (turned into pellets)
Oil then squeezed out
What the waste from algae biofuel be used for?
Animal or fish food
What is an example of poo being used for power?
‘poo’ bus from Bath to Bristol airport
How can the poo bus go on a full tank?
180 miles
What is the actual thing that powers the poo bus?
Bio-methane
How is the fuel of the poo bus created?
human waste turned into slurry and then put into tanks where it’s broken down by bacteria (this releases bio-methane)
What is the potential of poo power thought to be?
17 million m*3 of biomethane
What are radical technologies?
Potential replacement for fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions
What is the uncertainty with radical technology?
how effective/ possible they will be
What are some examples of radical technologies?
Hydrogen fuel cells
Electric vehicles
Carbon capture storage
Nuclear fusion
What is the premise with hydrogen fuel cells?
use hydrogen to generate electricity
What might mean that electric powered vehicles aren’t that clean?
If the fuel source used to generate the electricity is coal (dirtiest fossil fuel)
Why were hydrogen vehicles originally developed in California?
Due to the zero emissions mandate which meant cars couldn’t have any exhaust emissions
What is the waste from hydrogen fuel cells?
water
How much hydrogen gas can a hydrogen vehicle tank hold?
4kg
What are the safe guards on hydrogen vehicles?
hydrogen can emit its self though a vent if temperature gets too extreme to stop risk of explosion
What is the range of hydrogen vehicles?
160-200 miles
What are the top speeds of hydrogen vehicles?
85mph
What was the original production cost of the first hydrogen vehicles?
US$1 million
What are the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells?
hydrogen gas can be obtained from variety of sources
Only waste product is water
More efficient use of fuel then petrol or diesel
What are the disadvantages of hydrogen fuel cells?
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
What is an example of a hydrogen vehicle?
Toyota mirai
range of 270 miles
What are the positives of electric vehicles?
zero carbon emissions from vehicle its self
Minimal noise pollution
Cheap to run
What are the negatives of of electric vehicles?
More expensive to but then petrol or diesel
So quiet some worried could cause collisions with pedestrians
Source of energy?
What eco-friendly energy profiles would suit electric vehicles?
Paraguay (HEP)
Iceland (geothermal)
What is CCS?
carbon capture storage
What is the process of CCS?
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
What happens after carbon has been stored in the geological structure? (CCS)
Storage is monitored to ensure safety and no releases into the atmosphere
What is the problem with CCS?
It is very expensive so not possible for many countries
What 2 countries have CCS plants?
Norway and Canada
What is an example of a CCS plant?
2014 Canada opened first coal fired CCS plant at Boundary Dam in Saskatchewan at cost of US$1.3 billion
How effective are CCS plants?
90% by pumping CO2 underground and selling it to an oil companies for priming nearby oil fields (economically viable)
What 2 types of nuclear energy are there?
Fission
Fusion
How does nuclear fusion work?
2 or more atomic nuclei join together to make a new larger nucleus, releasing energy in process
What is the problem with nuclear fusion?
tech is still experimental and long way from reality
Who is researching nuclear fusion?
ITER- International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
