carbon cycle

Question 1

UK energy mix

Answer 1

UK:
-a high proportion of renewables - 14.4%
-high dependence on oil and gas - cheaper to extract - 36.2% natural gas and oil 39.7%
-over 50% of fossil fuels
-phasing out coal - 3.3%
- the windiest country in Europe - has the ability to explore greener policy.

Question 2

Russian Gas to Europe

Answer 2

-Russia is the 2nd largest producer of gas
-Russia primarily exported gas to Europe through 4 pipelines, 3 of which cross Ukraine.
¬Russia and Ukraine conflict has caused gas shortages in Europe
-Gasprom makes up 40% of EU gas supplies

Cost:
-14 countries get more than 50% of their gas from Russia.
-these countries heavily relied on imported energy, this can create economic and political blackmail
- Russia can always turn off pipelines.

Benefits:
-Low energy pathway times between European countries
-lower cost compared to other gas reserves - economically viable for for developing European countries

Question 3

Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Answer 3

-explosion of BP oil rig - 4.9 barrels of crude oil leaked for 3 months before capped off
-Mexico tourism and fishing industries affected
-Louisana shoreline affected as well as Alabama and Florida

Costs:
-13 people died
-tarballs found at shorelines and fishing nets
- marine life died because of excessive oil
-shrimp reproduced affected - Gulf of Mexico accounts for 75% of US shrimp supply
-Nov 2019 6800 dead animals
-turtles died
-sea birds heavily contaminated

Question 4

Tar sands in Canada

Answer 4

-Alberta - in the Athabasca area
-expensive because of high energy input
-extracting bitumen from tar sands
-surface mining and steam is used to liquify bitumen into oil

Costs:
-strip mining - clearance of large area of taiga
-produce 15% more co2 emissions
-5.9 gallons of fresh water are consumed during extraction, upgrading, and refining process for every gallon of oil
- breading ground for birds destroyed
-construction of pipelines destroy forest cover

Benefits
-40% of Canada’s oil output
-number 1 foreign supplier of oil the US
-economic growth in Alberta
-steps have been taken to mitigate the effect on local wildlife
-the landscape is reconstructed when mining is complete.

Question 5

human activity alter carbon cycle

Answer 5

1) enhanced greenhouse effect:
- 1995-2015 the chinese manufacturing industry emissions has increased by 220%
-accounts for 58% if china total co2 emisions
-china sources more than 70% of fossil fuel from coal

2)deforestation
-between 2015 & 2017 loss of tropical rainforest led to 4.8 billion tonnes of co2 per year
-13 mn hectares deforested annually

3) agriculture
- cattle ranching in 2016 accounted for 17% of Brazil’s co2 emissions.

4) industrial processes
-petroleum refining is the 2nd most emitter of carbon in the world.

Question 6

Biofuels in brazil

Answer 6

-investment by government in biofuels
-4% of energy comes from renewables
-90% cars sold in brazil have fuel flex engine which run on ethanol from sugar cane
-643 metric tonnes sugar cane production - deforestation

Question 7

impact of carbon cycle on Human wellbeing

Answer 7

ocean acidification:
- affect fishing industry - felt most by LICs
-fishing support 500mn people - 90% who are in developing countries.
-fish provides 16% on annual protein consumption for 36 million people
-China and Thailand are affected by depleted and stunted stocks
-220,000 ppl in the Maldives are reliant on coral atolls which attract 1mn tourists a year
-poorer and less diverse economies are less likely to cope with change to ocean health.
- coral also protect low laying countries from flooding such as the Maldives and Bangladesh

Forest loss:
-Over 1.6 billion people depend on forests and more than 90% of these people are amongst the poorest in society.
-Between 2000 and 2010,13 million hectares of forest is lost every year.
-Many people join pressure groups like Greenpeace and the WWF to oppose forest loss.
-Greenpeace found that TNCs don’t do enough to prevent deforestation, forest fires, and human rights abuses

Question 8

OPEC

Answer 8

• 12 memeber organisation that own 2/3 of the world’s oil
• purpose it to protect interests of the member nations
  -Stabilise oil price and make sure countries get a fair price
  -78% of the world oil reserves
  -produced 45% of crude oil and 15% of natural gas
  -A monopoly

Question 9

Carbon release from Peatbogs and Permafrost

Answer 9

-Permafrost covers 25% of the exposed land in the Northern Hemisphere and stores a huge volume of carbon
-Permafrost has warmed by 1 degree, meaning stored carbon has been emitted
-Permafrost stores 1672 Gt of carbon
-The burning, draining and degrading of peatlands emit more than 1/10 of global emissions released from burning fossil fuels.
-uncertainty over restoration of peatlands

Question 10

Paris climate change agreement

Answer 10

• March 2023 - there are 420ppm of carbon in the atmosphere
• Paris climate change agreement sets a global framework to avoid dangerous climate.
  -Aim to limit increase by 1.5°C since this would reduce the risk and impacts of climate change
  -IPCC indicated crossing the 1.5°C threshold will result in severe risk and impacts
  -To limit the increase by 1.5°C, global emissions must decrease by 43% by 2030

Future uncertainty:
-how other nations can support LIC to reduced emissions
-core-periphery countries bring their act up
- effectiveness of mitigations