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Geography > Carbon Case Studies > Flashcards

Carbon Case Studies Flashcards

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1
Q

What is France’s population?

A

65.2 million

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2
Q

What is France’s energy consumption mix?

A

Fossil fuels- 50%
Renewables- less than 10%
Nuclear energy- 41%

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3
Q

What is the USA’s population?

A

331.2 million

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4
Q

How much more energy does the USA use compared to France?

A

Consumes 10x as much energy as France

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5
Q

What is the USA’s energy mix?

A

Carbon fuels- 82%
Renewables- 11%
Nuclear energy- 8%

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6
Q

What is one reason the USA consumes a lot more energy than France? (Other than population)

A

Country experiences extremes of cold and heat, contradicting these temperatures requires large inputs of energy into heating, lighting and air conditioning.

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7
Q

How much energy does France import?

A

46% of supplies
- This reflects the fact that all of its natural gases and oils are imported.

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8
Q

How much of the USA’s energy is imported?

A

Only 15% of its primary energy
- makes the USA more energy secure

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9
Q

When did the Tar sands in Canada start being exploited on a commercial scale?

A

1967

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10
Q

How much of Canada’s oil output do the car sands produce?

A

40%

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11
Q

What are the social positives of the Canadian Tar sands?

A
  • New jobs (in an area where employment is limited)
  • Offers energy security for Canada and the USA
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12
Q

What are the social negatives of the Canadian Tar sands?

A
  • Atmospheric toxins and increased incidence rates of rare cancers and auto-immune diseases
  • Disruption to traditional ways of life
  • Thousands of extra workers have created a housing crisis
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13
Q

What are the economic positives of Canadian Tar sands?

A
  • By 2030 it could meet 16% of North America’s oil needs
  • Provides an alternative source of oil
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14
Q

What are the economic negatives of the Canadian Tar sands?

A
  • Far more expensive to extract than convectional oil
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15
Q

What are the environmental positives of the Canadian Tar sands?

A
  • Environmental protection means that mining companies are required to reclaim land distributed by extraction.
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16
Q

What are the environmental negatives of the Canadian Tar sands?

A
  • Very energy intensive
  • Takes 2-5 barrels of water to produce one barrel of oil
  • Adds to greenhouse gas emissions
  • Clearance of large areas of taiga
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17
Q

What is the Canadian Tar sands an example of?

A

Unconventional fossil fuels

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18
Q

How much of the USA’s gas supply did the US Shale gas provide in 2000, and in 2015?

A

2000- Provided 1% of the USA’s gas supply
2015- Provided nearly 25% of the USA’s gas supply

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19
Q

What is the increased production in US shale gas due to?

A

Due to growing use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to release oil and gas from underground formations that otherwise are too difficult to drill.

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20
Q

Where have the most important shale gas fields been found?

A

New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia

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21
Q

What are the environmental concerns of US shale gas?

A
  • Possible contamination of groundwater by chemicals in the pumping fluid and surface subsidence.
  • Fracking is known to produce airborne pollutants such as methane, benzene and sulphur dioxide.
  • Reports of ‘fraccidents’, such as mysterious animal deaths and industrial explosions.
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22
Q

What is the USA shale gas an example of?

A

Unconventional fossil fuels

23
Q

What was found in 2006 and where?

A

Huge oil deposits far off the Brazilian coast- hailed as one of the biggest ever oiled finds.

24
Q

When did the Brazilian deep water oil come on stream?

A

2009

25
Q

What was Petrobras (the state oil companies) aim for the Brazilian deep water oil?

A

To raise production to 500,000 barrels of oil a day, by 2020

26
Q

What are the impacts of the Brazilian deep water oil?

A
  • Pollution of the coastal waters
  • Concerns about the nature of drilling so far offshore. Rigs are beyond helicopter range, and ship access is hazardous due to the prevailing rough seas.
  • Oil and gas reservoirs contain huge amounts of toxic, flammable and explosive gases- many observers wonder what will happen if there is an accident, like the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
27
Q

What is Brazilian deep water oil an example of?

A

Unconventional fossil fuels

28
Q

What has the UK moved away from using for energy?

A

The use of direct coal

29
Q

What is the UK still very reliant upon for energy?

A

Oil and gas- 80% of the UK’s primary energy

30
Q

How does the UK consume less energy today, than we did in 1970?

A

This is despite a population increase of 6.5 million!
Because:
- More efficient at producing and using energy
- The rise of a less energy intensive service sector

31
Q

How much less energy do households and industries use? (In the UK compared to 1970)

A

Households use 12% less
Industries use 60% less

32
Q

What has the energy savings in the UK been offset by?

A

Increased number of vehicles on the road and flights

33
Q

What is the UK energy mix an example of?

A

Various energy sources

34
Q

When did Brazil take action and to do what? (Biofuels in Brazil)

A

Took action in 1970s to diversify energy sources to combat concerns about its energy security.

35
Q

What did Brazil do? (Biofuels in Brazil)

A
  • Initially invested in hydroelectricity
  • More recently invested in biofuels
36
Q

What have been the positive impacts for Brazil? (Biofuels in Brazil)

A

4% of its energy comes from renewable sources
90% of new vehicles sold in Brazil contain flex-flux engines
Led to significant reduction in the countries CO2 emissions

37
Q

What is a flex-fuel engine? (Biofuels in Brazil)

A

An engine that works using a combination of petrol and sugar cane ethanol

38
Q

What are the impacts of Biofuels in Brazil?

A
  • World’s largest producer of sugar cane, and leading exporter of sugar cane and ethanol
  • This has displaced other types of agriculture, which resulted in large scales deforestation for new areas of land for displaced agriculture.
  • Deforestation cancels out reduction in CO2 emissions related to the increased use of ethanol
39
Q

What is Biofuels in Brazil an example of?

A

Impact of climate change on carbon stores

40
Q

What is the Amazon’s job?

A

Acts as a global regulator, pumping 20 billion metric tonnes of water into the atmosphere daily, which is 3 billion more than the Amazon river discharges into the ocean.

41
Q

What has happen to the Amazon since 1990?

A

A more extreme cycle of drought and flood has developed, with wetter rainy seasons, liked to shifts in the ITCZ.

42
Q

What has the change in the Amazonia caused to happen?

A
  • Rainfall has appreciably decreased downwind of deforested areas
  • With São Paulo suffering a water crisis
  • Serve droughts in 2005, 2010 and 2016 have increased stress already high due to decades of deforestation
43
Q

What does a drier Amazon lead to?

A

Leads to the forest becoming a newer carbon emitter rather than, at present, a major global store.

44
Q

What year was the Kyoto protocol?

A

1977

45
Q

What is the Kyoto protocol?

A

The major international effort to encourage both long-term and short-term climate change mitigation.

46
Q

What was the aim of the Kyoto protocol?

A

To cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 5% on 1990 levels by 2012.

47
Q

Successes of the Kyoto protocol?

A
  • Started a global approach to tackling anthropogenic climate change. Beginning of the regular UN conferences on climate change ( COP).
  • Paved the way for new rules on low carbon legalisation, such as the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act.
48
Q

Did Kyoto meet its aim?

A

By 2012, emissions were 22.6% lower than the 1990 levels, well beyond the 5% goal.
However, 2015 showed a 65% increase above the 1990 levels mainly driven by Indian and China.

49
Q

Failures of the Kyoto protocol?

A
  • Slow ratification. The UK was one of the first but others struggled (Russia) or withdrew (USA, Canada and Japan), fearing economic impacts.
  • Emission reductions may be because Of other factors, such as cheaper gas replacing coal and a global shift of manufacturing from MEDCs to the ‘global south’.
50
Q

How many countries signed the Paris 2015 agreement?

A

195 countries

51
Q

What did the Paris agreement set out to do?

A
  • Limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels
  • Strengthen adaptation and resilience in dealing with the impacts of climate change
  • Support developing countries in reducing emissions and adaptation
52
Q

What is happening in the Artic?

A

In the last few decades the Artic temperatures have been increasing twice as fast as global averages.

53
Q

What are the impacts of the changes in the Arctic?

A
  • Reduction in sea ice, permafrost and ice sheets.
  • Increased base flow of rivers, increased evaporation and atmospheric water vapour.
  • Treeline advancing polewards due to permafrost reduction- positive feedback cycle
54
Q

What are the feedback cycles in the Artic, and how could they change?

A

Albedo change- Ice reflects more sunlight than water-When water melts, less sunlight is reflected, more is absorbed by the oceans, the ocean warms up and more ice melts again.
Permafrost- frozen soil- melts, releases carbon dioxide trapped in it, increases greenhouse effect and global warming, more permafrost melts again.

Geography (16 decks)

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