Consuming Energy Resources

Question 1

What does non-renewable mean?

Answer 1

• a finite resource that is being used up and cannot be replaced
• eg. Coal, oil, fuel (fossil fuels)

Question 2

What does renewable mean?

Answer 2

• infinite resources that will never run out and can be used over and over again
• eg. Solar power, hydroelectric power or wind power

Question 3

What does recyclable mean?

Answer 3

• recyclable resources provide energy from sources that can be recycled or reused

Question 4

Explain an example of non renewable energy: natural gas supplies in Europe.

Answer 4

• natural gas is used for electricity production, heating a cooking in Europe
• in the uk most gas comes from the North Sea but a lot of the UK’s share has been used up
• now the uk gets their gas from Norway, who still gets their gas from the North Sea but since they did not use it up quickly they are able to share part of it with the uk
• most of the EU depends on Russia and Ukraine for gas which is carried by large pipelines across the continent
• however at some point most of this gas will reach its peak use and other energy sources will need to be found

Question 5

Explain an example of renewable energy: wind power in the USA

Answer 5

• wind turbines were used to convert the power of wind into electricity
• California uses has over 16,000 large wind turbines and provides more that 6.9% of its total energy requirements
• there could be drawbacks however because on still days other renewables would have to be used to meet demand

Question 6

Explain an example of recyclable energy: biogas in India

Answer 6

• organic matter such as wood chips and animal dung are fed into a pit which forms part of a biogas plant, left to ferment
• the methane that is released from this is collected into a tank and can be used to power electricity generators to be used for cooking
• there are over 2.5 million biogas plants across India