Energy

Question 1

How is the demand for energy changing in the UK?

Answer 1

Less energy is consumed in the UK than in 1970, despite there being an extra 6.5 million people living in the UK. This is due to the decline in industry

Question 2

What does energy do? (4)

Answer 2

Energy:
- powers our cars and other transport;
- heats our homes, schools, and offices;
- powers the machines that produce our clothes and food;
- provides the electricity we use to watch TV and use computers

Question 3

What is fracking? (2)

Answer 3

-Fracking is a technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock.
- It involves drilling into the earth and directing a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals at a rock layer to release the gas inside.

Question 4

State two disadvantages of fracking.

Answer 4

1. Pollution:
   - The use of water with chemical substances and support materials can cause pollution in aquifers, with the consequent risk to ecosystems and the people’s health.
   - Rock fracturing can also cause the uncontrolled release of gases that generate emissions.
   - Not only is fracking bad for our climate, but it also risks air, water, and noise pollution. It uses toxic chemicals that may not be regulated well enough.
   - An accident could mean that these chemicals leak into water supplies or cause pollution above ground. In fact, this has happened many times in the US.
2. It won’t help us limit climate change:
   - Energy experts say that much of the gas that companies have already discovered but not yet extracted needs to stay in the ground. Otherwise, we won’t be able to meet our emission reduction targets and limit the effects of climate change. So it doesn’t make sense to go after even more.
   - Fracking uses more energy to extract it than conventional oil and gas, and fracked gas appears to leak more into the atmosphere.
   • Gas itself is a greenhouse gas so the overall climate impact it produces is greater.

Question 5

Give advantages for fracking. (3)

Answer 5

1. It enables access to unconventional hydrocarbon deposits, which until a few years ago could not be extracted.
   - Possible to access gas and oil in countries and territories that until now depended on other countries to generate hydrocarbons.
   - Technical improvements: possible to detect these unconventional hydrocarbons and optimise their extraction quickly and easily, leading to lower prices.
2. Generates new jobs and economically reactivates the territories where the gas or oil is extracted.
3. The Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2016 ensure that “the process of hydraulic fracturing cannot take place within 1,200 metres beneath the surface of protected areas and areas that are most vulnerable to groundwater pollution”
   - Means that fracking is less of an environmental threat than anticipated.

Question 6

What is ‘energy mix’?

Answer 6

‘Energy mix’ refers to the different sources of energy used by households, industry and other commercial users, such as shops and offices

Question 7

How can electricity be generated? (2)

Answer 7

Electricity can be generated by burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal, or by using renewable energy sources like wind or water.

Question 8

State 3 fossil fuels.

Answer 8

Oil, gas and coal

Question 9

What can fossil fuels be used for? (3)

Answer 9

1. Fossil fuels can be burnt directly to produce heat.
2. Fossil fuels can be used to generate electricity in power stations.
3. Fossil fuels can be used to power vehicles and machinery.

Question 10

What does ** The Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2016** ensure?

Answer 10

The Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2016 ensure that “the process of hydraulic fracturing cannot take place within 1,200 metres beneath the surface of protected areas and areas that are most vulnerable to groundwater pollution.”