Counting The Cost Reliance On Fossil Fuels Flashcards
Use of coal
Coal represented the entire use of fossil fuels up to approximately 1920. Uses included heating of homes, electricity production and steel production. Coal was used in boilers to produce steam to power ships and trains
Disadvantages of coal
Highly polluting
Impacts the weather
Has an effect on health
Factors that increase fossil fuel usage
Increase in the world’s population
Increase in the number of goods and services
Increased travel
Capitalism
How increase in world population led to increased fossil fuel usage
The world’s population was approximately 1 billion at the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 1760s.It took humans hundreds of thousands of years to reach this massive number.The alarming fact is that in a few hundred years this has increased to approximately 7.7 billion as of 2019.Simply stating these numbers does not give an adequate perspective of the growth rate in the last 150 years.
Even though the world’s population is projected to stabilise around 10.9 billion at the end of this century (Cilluffo & Ruiz, 2019), there are a massive number of humans exerting an extraordinary demand on the Earth’s resources.
How increase in the number of goods and services led to an increase in fossil fuel usage
Since the end of World War 2, the affluence (how much wealth a nation/person owns) of many Western Nations has increased significantly.This has led to a huge expansion in the number of goods and services offered by many companies, to capture some of the associated growth in disposable income, from consumers. Some examples include cosmetics, mobile phones, electronics and clothing.
Every one of these examples, as well as vast numbers of services and products currently available to consumers, puts a massive strain on the Earth’s resources.In the A2 Unit 1 specification it will be evident that Western Nations are using beyond their fair share of the Earth’s resources.It is therefore questionable whether the number of services and products currently on offer is sustainable into the longer term.The throwaway society, which we live in, promotes continued sales for companies, but is draining the resources of this planet at an alarming rate.
How increased travel led to an increase in fossil fuel usage
In recent years the availability of cheap flights has increased travel by air.However, travel by aeroplane is detrimental in terms of its carbon footprint compared to car and train, see here. More environmentally friendly alternatives include travel by boat or public transport.
A massive change in legislation by nations on a global level is required to discourage travelling by air.This will require revision of current flight prices.
How capitalism led to an increase in fossil fuel usage
There are many who argue, and with a strong case, that the very capitalist system that we live in prevents goods and services being offered in a sustainable fashion. Most companies are solely interested in income and maximising profit, irrespective of any negative effects of their activities on both society and the environment. This is where governments, and their respective legislation, are critical in ensuring that companies and individuals are guided towards more sustainable planning and operations.
Capitalism, which is based on private ownership for profits, promotes exuberance and the collection of vast quantities of expensive goods by consumers. The current system will therefore need to greatly adapt, or be governed more closely, to ensure that society and the environment are considered as important as the financial dimension so that a balance is achieved. These three critical factors, economy, environment and society are the three pillars that underpin the concept of sustainable development.
Positive steps can and have been taken. For example, tax levied on highly polluting diesel and petrol vehicles aids the promotion of electric vehicles which currently are not taxed (as of July 2019 in the UK market). This drives demand for electric vehicles which in turn causes manufacturers to shift towards these new markets. The development of electric vehicles has accelerated significantly in recent years.
Impact of the trend in resource demand
Infrastructure; Materials derived from fossil fuels including concrete, steel and diesel will be required for building new schools, housing, bridges and road networks for future generations.
Technology; Materials such as plastics will be required for telecommunication networks, so that mobile phone and broadband access is available to all citizens including those in rural areas.This will be critical in areas of education and the financial services sector.
Health care; There will be increased demand for pharmaceuticals, derived from crude oil, to cater for the health needs of the population.This will be of paramount importance as life expectancy increases and so more medications will be required.
Energy; Massive investment in the energy sector to meet the needs of the nation will be required through new power plants requiring concrete, steel and diesel.If these are fossil fuel power plants, there will be an increased demand for coal or natural gas.
Lifestyle; As the nation becomes more affluent, consumer demand for products and services will increase substantially.The need for products such as mobile phones, cosmetics, electronics and clothing will increase the consumption of fossil fuels in their production and their subsequent distribution to consumers.
Importance of population
The population of each of these developing nations is of vital importance. It has been established that the current population of the Earth is approximately 7.7 billion.The four BRIC developing nations account for some 40.9% of the planet’s population.China and India are the two most populated nations on Earth accounting for 36.3% of the world’s population. These two highly populated nations will exert an increased demand for fossil fuels as these nations become more affluent.
As a point of interest, the world’s strongest economy, the USA, is currently the third most populous nation on Earth at 0.33 billion people (330 million) but represents just 4.3% of the planet’s population
What is fuel security
Fuel security has been defined as, ‘the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price’ (International Energy Agency, 2019). It is important to focus on two key points of this definition: uninterrupted availability and affordable price.
Fuel Security; Uninterrupted Availability
This simply means that energy should always be available when required. Therefore, there should be no problems with the energy supply chain regardless of the energy type.For nations importing energy from other nations there is a potential for problems in the energy supply chain.
Examples of uninterrupted availability
Strong foreign relations with the nation selling the energy source.These relations may have taken years or perhaps decades to shape and forge.While these relations can take a long time to create, they can be shattered rapidly in today’s increasingly volatile world.
Safe transportation routes from the nation or region selling the energy resource.These routes may include rivers and oceans if the fuel is crude oil and needs to be transported by ship.It may include land if these resources are piped across or underground through regions. This is the case for the pipelines supplying natural gas from Russia across to Europe.These supply routes can be vulnerable to disruption, such has been the case for the UK where oil tankers have been seized by Iran special forces in July 2019, see here.The effect can be devastating if a route is no longer viable.
Fuel Security; Affordable Price
The second key parameter of fuel security is an economic one and deals with the fuel source being affordable.There is no benefit in having an uninterrupted availability of an energy type if it is much too expensive.The affordability of energy for citizens, especially those on lower incomes, has become an area of great concern in recent years. This has led to many people entering into fuel poverty.A household is deemed to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of household income on fuel.As of June 2019, there are believed to be 2.55 million people in the UK in fuel poverty (Money Super Market, 2019).
While prices will naturally increase for goods and services each year (inflation), energy prices generally increase by much more than inflation.For example, the largest energy providers for the 2019/2020 financial year have increased prices by 10% or more (Gausden, 2019).Inflation in the UK in recent years has been approximately 2%.These vast energy price rises result in the affordability of energy becoming a major concern for many people.
More alarming, is the potential of nations, or companies, who own these resources to control supply, to manipulate the price of the fuel.Crude oil producing nations can cut supply by 20% to best meet the needs of these nations.The outcome is an increased value of the crude oil affecting the price of everything from diesel, petrol and goods in shops (they all now cost more to produce and transport).The full extent of this supply manipulation will be made apparent in example two of this chapter which highlights the oil crisis of the 1970s.
The Fundamental Nature of Fuel Security: Geopolitics
The issues associated with fuel security are likely to be avoided, at least in the shorter term, by these nations.The role that geopolitics plays in the supply of energy throughout the world is critical.Nations have for centuries been exploited for their natural resources.This has in the past caused wars, and economic crises across the world.The following five examples will illustrate the effect geopolitics can have on energy supply and therefore a nation’s fuel security.
Installation of the Shah in Iran
Western Nations often try to influence leaders and or governments to implement beneficial trade agreements with the West. For those that do not accept the trade agreements offered by the Western Nations, they face the possibility of losing power to those that will. This occurred with the installation of the Shah of Iran in 1953. A democratically elected government was overthrown by Western powers because the elected government wanted to nationalise the oil industry which was dominated by British Petroleum at that time.
Recently declassified documents from the CIA confirm American and British involvement, see an article in relation to this here.Hostile relations between Iran and the West exists to this day and is played out on news stories daily.Financial sanctions continue to be imposed by the USA for Iran’s failure to utilise its crude oil in the interests of the West.
