CARBON

Question 1

How would abandoning fossil fuels threaten economic development for India?

Answer 1

• Depends on coal for 66% of its energy and intends to double its coal output by 2020
• It is the third largest CO2 emitter after China and the USA, and wants to reduce its dependence on imported fuel
• This wish means using more domestic coal
• New infrastructure, an expanding middle class and 600 million new users of electricity are driving India’s demand for coal

Question 2

Outline energy portraits of the USA and France

Answer 2

• The USA and France are two of the top ten energy consuming countries
• Total consumption in France is seen to be only 1/10 of that of the USA (because of population difference, climate)
• Carbon fuels produce 82% of the energy consumed in the USA.
• 50% of France’s energy comes from fossil fuels, with 41% from nuclear energy. France has over 50 nuclear reactors in operation currently.
• France = 46% dependent on imported supplies (all natural gas and oil are imported, as well as uranium for its nuclear power)
• USA = Imports 15% of primary energy, a difference that makes the USA altogether more energy secure.

Question 3

Who are the world’s leading coal producers and consumers? (3)

Answer 3

1. China
2. India
   3 USA

Question 4

Outline the impacts of Russian gas to Europe and the role of Nord Stream 2

Answer 4

• Recently, the quantity of natural gas exported to W Europe has increased by 40%. In 2018, Russia exported 243bn m^3 of natural gas.
• Delivery is through 4 pipelines, and the construction of a new pipeline system, North Stream 2 - will contribute towards increasing Russia’s gas exports to Europe
• From the Russian perspective, Ukraine is in a position to make life difficult for the Russian gas industry (3 pipes run through Ukraine)
• Nord Stream 2 would make gas exports to the EU simpler and less reliant on the good will of ‘transfer states’ such as Ukraine.

Question 5

Outline the role of Canadian tar sands as an unconventional fossil fuel

Answer 5

• Exploiting the Canadian deposits on a commercial scale started in 1967 and has focused in Alberta
• Tar sands produce about 40% of Canada’s oil output
• The 2015 fall in the global price of oil had a depressing impact on the tar sands industry because extracting bitumen is relatively expensive (high energy input)

Question 6

Outline the role of US shale gas as an unconventional fossil fuel

Answer 6

• Shale gas provided 1% of the USA’s gas supply in 2000
• In 2015, it was nearly 25% (due to the growth of fracking to release oil and gas from underground formations that are otherwise too difficult to drill).
• Environmental concerns associated with fracking include possible contamination of groundwater by the chemicals in the pumping fluid and surface subsidence

Question 7

Outline the role of Brazilian deep water oil as an unconventional fossil fuel

Answer 7

• Brazil is one of the leading emerging economies and badly needs oil and gas
• The deep water oil came on stream in 2009. By 2020, Petrobas aims to raise production to 500,000 barrels of oil a day
• Since the 2006 discovery, the once scenic coast between Rio de Janerio and Sao Paulo has been disfigured by refineries and the bases that serve the oil and gas fields more than 200km offshore.

Question 8

Outline the UK energy mix

Answer 8

• The reliance on oil and natural gas seems to have settled at a rather high level, providing close to 80% of the UK’s primary energy
• Much petroleum is used by transport and most of the natural gas is used to generate electricity.
• We consume less energy than we did in 1970, despite a population increase of some 6.5 million

Question 9

Outline the role of biofuels in Brazil

Answer 9

• Brazil has invested in alternative energy stores
• 4% of its energy comes from renewable resources
• 90% of new passenger vehicles sold contain flex-fuel engines that work using any combination of petrol and sugar cane ethanol
• Brazil is a lead exporter and producer of sugar cane and ethanol (although this has since displaced other agriculture e.g., cattle pasture). This has had knock-on effects in terms of the clearance of the tropical rainforest.

Question 10

What role does the Amazon rainforest play?

Answer 10

• Global and regional regulator
• Pumps 20 billion metric tonnes of water into the atmosphere daily, 3 billion more than the River Amazon discharges into the ocean.
• Lowers atmospheric pressure

Question 11

How has the Amazon’s climate changed?

Answer 11

• Since 1990, a more extreme cycle of drought and flood has developed in Amazonia, with a wetter rainy season, linked to shifts in the ICTZ
• A drier Amazon leads to the forest becoming a net carbon emitter rather than, as at present, a major global store

Question 12

Outline how UK forests have changed

Answer 12

• By the end of the 19th century, forest cover in the UK had declined to under 10% after centuries of exploitation
• By 2020, thirteen per cent of the UK was forested, with increasing numbers of indigenous species planted.