EQ2: What are the consequences for people and the environment of our increasing demand for energy? Flashcards
What is a key goal for countries?
Energy security, with most relying on fossil fuels.
What countries have an extremely high energy use?
- USA and Canada (mostly North America)
- Australia
- Parts of the Middle East e.g Saudi Arabia
Why do USA have high energy use?
- More car ownership
- More infrastructure requires more energy
- Not a lot of environmental consciousness
Why does Saudi Arabia have high energy use?
- Huge oil reserves, so their use tends to be higher.
- Price of oil is lower because they have their own domestic supply.
What countries have moderately high energy consumption?
Russia and China
What countries have moderately low energy consumption?
Africa and South America
Why do some counties have low energy consumption?
Less developed so less energy consumption.
Link between GDP and energy consumption
Generally the higher the GDP per capita, the higher energy use e.g USA
When is energy security achieved?
When there is an uninterrupted availability of energy at a national level and at an affordable price.
When is the most secure energy situation?
Where the national demand for energy can be completely satisfied by domestic sources. Like autarky.
Four key aspects of energy security
- availability
- accessibility
- affordability - competitively priced energy supply
- reliability - uninterrupted
Why is energy vital to the functioning of a country?
- powers most forms of transport
- lights settlements
- used by some types of commercial agriculture
- warms/cools homes and powers domestic appliances
- vital to modern communications
- drives most forms of manufacturing
Consumption of energy is measured in what two ways?
- in per capita terms (this measure rises with economic development)
- energy intensity, units of GDP (the fewer the units of energy, the more efficiently a country is using its energy supply)
What is the energy mix of a country?
An energy mix describes the range and combination of sources required to supply a country with energy.
Resources can be produced within a country (domestic) and…
imported from another country (foreign)
What has the global energy mix been dominated by for a long time?
Non-renewable fossil fuels, especially crude oil and coal
Why might the energy transition to less polluting and more sustainable energy be slow?
New technologies need to be developed, and current energy pathways, with trade based on established geopolitical links, are not east to break.
What does energy mix depend on?
What’s available most easily, cheaply, effectively or securely.
What is primary energy?
Refers to natural energy resources that have not been converted into another form of energy. Includes non-renewable energy resources such as fossil fuels (crude oil, coal, natural gas) and nuclear (uranium) and renewables such as hydro, biomass/biofuels, solar and wind.
What is secondary energy?
Refers to what the primary source has been converted into, usually electricity. Usually more convenient.
What does the term “power generation mix” refer to?
The combination of energy resources used to create electricity.
What is the world’s energy mix mostly made up of? (as of 2012-14)
Coal, oil and natural gas
USA primary energy mix 2012-14
Mostly oil and natural gas
Germany primary energy mix 2012-14
Mostly oil, natural gas, and lignite
China primary energy mix 2012-14
Mostly coal, small percentage is oil
7 factors affecting a country’s energy mix
- The availability of primary energy resources within the country, including levels of technology to extract and use them.
- The accessibility of primary energy resources from outside the country.
- The real or perceived energy needs of the country, based on lifestyles, economic development or climate.
- Changing energy consumption patterns, perhaps linked to population or economic growth.
- National and regional policies that affect energy production and consumption, such as legislation related to the natural environment (climate change targets).
- Cultural and historical legacies regarding energy use and geopolitical links.
- The financial costs of each energy option.
What place has the world’s largest oil reserves and the largest production?
The Middle East
What countries are major oil producers?
Partly because of the high demand from their industries and transport.
Venezuela, Mexico and Nigeria also have significant oil reserves, what can revenue from oil exports help?
Their economic development.
Where are the biggest trading pathways into?
Europe and USA.
Why are Europe and the USA the largest consumers of oil?
Due to the many vehicles and industries and many wealthy consumers who can afford to use the resource.
What has made the UK increasingly dependent on imported energy?
Declining domestic North Sea oil and gas reserves.
How does the UK have an energy deficit?
Because the UK now imports more energy than it produces domestically, the country now has an energy deficit and it energy insecure.
Despite economic and population growth in the UK and the adoption of energy saving technologies, what happened?
The UK consumed less energy in 2015 than in 1998. More of its energy also came from renewable sources.
UK reliance on energy
Reliance an imported energy has grown since 2004.
UK net exporter
UK became a net exporter of energy in 1981 due to North Sea oil and gas development.
UK net importer
UK became a net importer again for a short period after the 1988 Piper Alpha oil rig explosion.
When did North Sea production peak? (UK as net exporter)
1999
Define net exporter
A country that exports more than it imports
Define net importer
A country that imports more than it exports
Who is the biggest provider of oil and natural gas to the UK?
Norway
Location important - UK is close to Norway.
Benefits of crude oil exploitation
- Can be sold to bring wealth to a country and people
- Can support industry, even in an economic recession
- Has brought a culture based on freedom of movement
- Money from oil can be invested in finding the next flexible energy resources
Problems of crude oil exploitation
- Burning releases CO₂ which contributes to climate warming
- Burning releases nitrous oxide which contributes to acid rain
- Wars have been fought over oil
- Fluctuations in the cost of the resource have caused recession and inflation
- Oil is finite and will run out in the 21st century
- Oil spills may damage the natural environment e.g the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill
Access to and consumption of energy resources depends upon…
physical availability, cost, technology, public perception, level of economic development and economic priorities
How does oil consumption depend on energy policies?
For some, energy policy will be taking the cheapest route to meeting the nation’s energy needs, regardless of the environmental costs. Others will seek to increase their reliance on renewable sources of energy; while others seek policies that raise energy efficiency and energy saving
How does energy consumption depend on climate?
Very high levels of consumption in North America, the Middle East and Australia reflect the extra energy needed to make the extremes of heat and cold more comfortable (at home, at work and in public places).
How does energy consumption depend on public perception?
For some consumers, energy is perceived almost as a human right and therefore to be used with little or no regard for the environmental consequences. Others give priority to minimising the wastage of energy and maximising security.
USA vs France
Total energy consumption in France is only one-tenth that of the USA.