Energy Resources Flashcards
What are examples of non-renewable energy resources?
- Fossil fuels
- Nuclear fuel (uranium and plutonium)
What are fossil fuels?
Natural resources that form underground over millions of years that are typically burnt to provide energy.
What are the three main fossil fuels?
- Coal
- Oil
- (Natural) Gas
How costly is the extraction of fossil fuels?
The cost to extract fossil fuels is low, and fossil fuel power plants are relatively cheap to build and run.
How costly are nuclear power plants?
Pretty costly to build, and to safely decommission.
What environmental problems do fossil fuels create?
Fossil fuels release CO2 into the atmosphere when they’re burned, which adds to the greenhouse effect, and contributes to global warming.
What other environmental problem is caused by burning coal and oil?
Coal and oil release sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain.
How can acid rain be reduced?
- Take the sulfur out before the fuel is burned.
- Cleaning up the emissions.
What environmental problems are caused by oil spillages?
Oil spillages affect mammals and birds that live in and around the sea.
What environmental problems are caused by nuclear waste?
Nuclear power is clean, but the nuclear waste is very dangerous and difficult to dispose of.
There is also the risk of a major catastrophe, like the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
What are non-renewable energy resources?
Energy resources that are finite (will eventually run out).
What are renewable energy resources?
Energy resources that are infinite (they will never run out).
What are examples of renewable energy resources?
- Bio-fuels
- Wind
- The Sun (solar)
- Hydro-electricity
- Tides
Do renewable energy resources damage the environment?
Yes - but in less nasty ways than non-renewable energy resources.
What is the main problem with renewable energy resources?
They don’t provide much energy, and some of them are unreliable because they depend on the weather.
What are bio-fuels?
Renewable energy resources created from either plant products or animal dung.
What state can bio-fuels be in?
Any state - solid, liquid or gas.
How do bio-fuels produce electricity?
They are burnt to produce electricity, the same way as fossil fuels.
Are bio-fuels carbon neutral?
Supposedly, they are - although there is some debate about this as it’s only true if you keep growing plants (or raising animals) at the rate that you’re burning things.
Are bio-fuels reliable?
They are fairly reliable, as crops take a relatively short time to grow, and different crops can be grown all year round.
However, they cannot respond to immediate energy demands (to combat this, bio-fuels are continuously produced and stored for when they are needed).
How costly are bio-fuels to refine?
The cost to refine bio-fuels is very high, and some worry that growing crops specifically for bio-fuels will mean that there isn’t enough space or water to meet the demands for crops that are grown for food.
What environmental problems are caused by bio-fuels?
- Large areas of forest have been cleared to make room to grow bio-fuels, resulting in lots of species losing their natural habitats.
- The decay or burning of this cleared vegetation also increases methane and CO2 emissions.
How does wind power produce electricity?
Each wind turbine has a generator inside it - wind rotates the blades, which turn the generator and produce electricity.
What is the environmental benefit of wind power?
There’s no pollution.
How costly is wind power?
Initial costs are quite high, but running costs are minimal.
What are the problems with wind power?
- Lots of wind turbines are needed to produce as much power as, for example, a coal power plant.
- They can spoil the view.
- They can be noisy, which can be annoying for people living nearby.
- They only work when it’s windy, so you can’t always supply electricity or respond to high demand.
How do solar cells work?
Solar cells are made from materials that use energy transferred by light to create an electric current.
What are the benefits of solar cells?
There’s no pollution (although they do use quite a lot of energy to make).
How costly are solar cells?
Initial costs are high, but there are basically no running costs.
What scale are solar cells usually used on to generate electricity?
They’re mainly used to generate electricity on a relatively small scale, e.g. in homes.
They are also more suitable for sunny countries, but can be used in cloudy countries like Britain.
What are the problems with solar cells?
You can’t make solar power at night or increase production when there’s extra demand.
How is hydro-electricity produced?
Involves flooding a valley by building a big dam. Rainwater is caught and allowed out through turbines.
What are the benefits of hydro-electricity?
- There is no pollution (as such).
- It can immediately respond to increased electricity demand - more water can be let out through the turbines to generate more electricity.
What environmental impacts are caused by hydro-electricity?
There is a big impact on the environment due to the flooding of the valley and possible loss of habitat for some species.
How costly is hydro-electricity?
Initial costs are often high but there are minimal running costs and it’s generally a reliable energy source.
What are tidal barrages?
Big dams built across river estuaries with turbines in them.
How do tidal barrages work?
As the tide comes in it fills up the estuary. The water is then let out through turbines at a controlled speed to generate electricity.
What are the benefits of tidal barrages?
There is no pollution.
What are the negative impacts of tidal barrages?
- They affect boat access.
- Can spoil the view.
- The alter the habitat for wildlife, e.g. wading birds.
How reliable are tidal barrages?
Tides are pretty reliable (they always happen twice a day).
However, the height of the tides is variable and barrages don’t work when the water level is the same either side.
How costly are tidal barrages?
Initial costs are moderately high, but there are no fuel costs and minimal running costs.
