Energy NEW Flashcards
What are the environmental consequences of renewable, non-renewable and recyclable resources?
R: produce no carbon dioxide and do not directly contribute to atmospheric pollution
N: emit carbon dioxide during combustion, and are the cause of global warming
RE: emit carbon dioxide by reabsorb it when they are regrown make them potentially close to being ‘carbon neutral’
What are the factors that a country considers when choosing an energy ‘mix’?
Physical: the availability of North Sea natural gas contributed to a ‘dash for gas’ in the early 1990’s
Public Perception: in the 1950’s and 1960’s, nuclear power was perceived as a positive technology, but after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the public turned against nuclear power
Politics: nuclear power is back on the agenda due to fears over the politics of gas supply from Russia
Technology: efficiency of solar panels increased from 5% energy conservation to 40% between 1970 and 2008, increasing its viability
Economics: wind power is becoming competitive with fossil fuels
Environment: concerns about global warming have led to a move towards renewable resources
How much is energy demand globally expected to grow between 2005 and 2030
As much as 50%
How much did China’s coal use increase between 2002 and 2005?
17% per year
Why do most projections suggest a continued reliance of fossil fuels rather than a switch to nuclear power and renewables?
Nuclear power plants are costly to build and take up to 10 years to complete
Renewable sources such as wind are seen as unreliable
Solar power as proved difficult to ‘up-scale’
China and India have both 10%+ of world coal reserves and coal power stations can be build quickly and cheaply
What did Somali pirate seize in 2008?
the supertanker MV Sirius Star
What do high oil prices lead to?
Increase costs for industry which leads to inflation and rising prices
This can slow or reverse economic growth as people spend proportionately more on expensive energy and less on other goods
Can increase political and economic risks
What happened in the UK in 2000?
Petrol price rises led to a series of protests and blockades that forced 3,000 petrol stations to close
The search for secure oil and gas supplies has led to exploration in technically difficult areas, name 3 examples
Extreme cold environments - inside the Arctic Circle
Deep water offshore locations - West of Shetland
Politically unstable locations - Sudan, Puntland in Northern Somalia
What are the environmental issues of Athabasca tar sands in Canada?
Opencast mined by removing boreal forest and peat bogs
2-5m3 of water used for 1m3 of oil
Natural gas used to heat tar sands and recover oil
Why have supermajors (very large TNCs) been heavily criticised?
Making excessive profits, many are close to being monopoly suppliers in some countries and regions
Not investing long-term in exploration and refining capacity, so oil gluts quickly turn to supply shortages
Damaging sensitive environments and ignoring local people - e.g. in Rivers State in Nigeria where sell has been accused of oil spills, corruption and driving the Ogoni people from their land
Describe OPEC
Set up in 1961
A cartel of 12 major oil exporters
Influences the price of crude oil using oil production quotas for state members
In 2008, OPEC accounted for 35% of oil supply and over 60% of proven oil reserves
What are the issues of business as usual scramble?
Limited progress on global warming
Ecosystem destruction
Acid rain and urban air pollution
Uses existing technology and no need to adapt to new energy sources
What are the issues of new atomic age?
Some impacts of mining uranium
Waste disposal concerns
Lower carbon dioxide emissions
Transport technology has to be redeveloped to be electrically powered
What are the issues of renewable renaissance?
Major reductions in carbon dioxide emissions
Large areas of land used, difficult for small nations
Requires efficiency and hydrogen production (cars) to truly be feasible
