EQ2: what are the consequences for people and then environment of our increasing demand for energy?

Question 1

define energy security

Answer 1

something that is achieved when there is an uninterrupted availability of energy at a national level and at an affordable price.

Question 2

what are the four key aspects of energy security

Answer 2

• affordability- affordable and competitively priced energy supply
• reliability- reliable and uninterrupted energy supply
• accessibility- accessible and available energy supply
• availability- energy mix dependent on domestic rather than imported sources of energy.

Question 3

how is energy vital to the functioning of a country

Answer 3

• powers most forms of transport
• lights settlements
• is used by some types of commercial agriculture
• warms or cools homes and powers domestic appliances
• is vital to modern communication
• drives most forms of manufacturing.

Question 4

define energy mix

Answer 4

the combinations of different energy sources available to meet a country’s total energy demand

Question 5

what are primary energy sources

Answer 5

any form of energy found in nature that has not been subject to any conversion or transformation. Primary energy can be renewable (water and wind power) or non-renewable (coal, oil and gas)

Question 6

what are secondary energy sources

Answer 6

refers to the more convenient forms of energy, such as electricity, which are derived from the transformation or conversion of primary energy sources

Question 7

what are the main primary energy sources used to generate electricity today?

Answer 7

• non-renewables fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas
• recyclable fuels, such as nuclear energy, general waste and biomass
• renewable energies, such as water, wind, solar, geothermal land tidal

Question 8

what two ways is energy consumption measured in?

Answer 8

• per capita terms i.e as kilograms of oil equivalent or megawatt hours per person. In general, this measure rises with economic development.
• by a measure known as energy intensity, which is assessed by calculating the units of energy used per unit of GDP. The fewer the units of energy, the more efficiently a country is using its energy supply. in general, energy intensity values decrease with economic development.

Question 9

what are some factors affecting per capita energy consumption

Answer 9

• public perception / attitudes towards energy consumption
• climate (extreme heat needs air con and extreme coldness needs heat etc)
• environmental priorities (energy policies taking cheapest routes despite environmental damagE)
• standard of living
• cost
• physical availability
• technology
• economic development

Question 10

define energy pathway

Answer 10

the route taken by any form of energy from its source to its point of consumption. The routes involve different forms of transport, such as tanker ships, pipelines and electricity transmission grids.

Question 11

what are the five major players in the world of energy?

Answer 11

• TNC’s
• Organisation of the petroleum exporting countries (OPEC)
• Energy companies
• Consumers
• Government

Question 12

what is the role of TNC’s in the world of energy

Answer 12

Nearly half of the top 20 companies are state-wound and therefor, very much under government control. Because of this, strictly speaking, they are not TNC’s. Most are involved in a range of operations: exploring, extracting, transporting, refining and producing petrochemicals

Question 13

what is the role of OPEC in the world of energy

Answer 13

OPEC has 12 member countries which between them own around 2/3 of the worlds oil reserves. Because of this, it is in a position to control the amount of oil and gas entering the global market, as well as the prices of both commodities. OPEC has been accused of holding back production in order to drive up oil and gas prices.

Question 14

what is the role of energy companies in the world of energy

Answer 14

important here are the companies that convert primary energy (oil, gas, water and nuclear) into electricity and then distribute it. Most companies are involved in the distribution of both gas and electricity. They have considerable influence over setting consumer prices and tariffs

Question 15

what is the role of the consumer in the world of energy

Answer 15

an all-embracing term, but probably the most influential consumers are transport, industry and domestic users. Consumers are largely passive players when it comes to fixing energy prices

Question 16

what is the role of the government in the world of energy

Answer 16

they can play a number of different roles; they are the guardians of national energy security and can influence the sourcing of energy for geopolitical reasons.

Question 17

what is a fundamental feature of the world of energy?

Answer 17

that the distributions of fossil fuel supply and demand do not coincide

Question 18

what are the worlds leading gas producers and consumers?

Answer 18

gas producers:
USA, Russia, Iran
gas consumers:
Germany, Japan, Italy

Question 19

what is the fossil fuel pathway for coal?

Answer 19

coal: from six main producers (Australia, Indonesia, Russia, South African, Colombia and USA) to the four major markets/consumers (EU, India, China, Japan-Korea-Taiwan)

Question 20

what is the fossil fuel pathway for oil?

Answer 20

from producers in the Middle East (Russia, Saudi Arabia as well as the USA) to the four main markets in EU, USA, china and Japan

Question 21

what is the fossil fuel pathway for gas?

Answer 21

from the major producers in the Middle East, Russia and USA to markets in Europe like Germany and Italy as well as Japan.

Question 22

what is an example of a risk to transboundary energy pathways and why?

Answer 22

Russian Gas to Europe
most of Russias gas is exported to European countries through 5 pipelines, 3 of which travel through Ukraine.
however, Russia recently annexed the Crimea and now occupies parts of east Ukraine.
Ukraine has strength as it could increase its charges for allowing Russian gas to pass through it and could even stop gas passing through completely.
Russia could export the gas through 2 northern pipelines which run through Finland and Poland or annex Ukraine all together

Question 23

what are unconventional fossil fuels

Answer 23

fuels that cannot be extracted using conventional drilling or mining. They often involve new technologies such as directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking

Question 24

what are the four main unconventional fossil fuels and how are they extracted

Answer 24

• Tar sands
mix of clay, sand, water and bitumen:
have to be mined and injected with steam to make tar less viscous so it can be pumped out
• Oil shale
oil-bearing rocks that are permeable:
either mined, or shale is ignited so that the light oil can be pumped out
• Shale gas
natural gas that’s trapped in sedimentary rocks:
fracking (water and chemicals to pump the gas out)
• Deepwater oil
oil and gas found way offshore in deep deep water:
drilling takes place from ocean rigs; already underway is the golf of Mexico and off Brazil.

Question 25

what is the downside of exploiting unconventional fossil fuels?

Answer 25

• they are all fossil fuels, so their use will continue to threaten the carbon cycle and contribute to global warming
• extraction is costly and requires a high input if complex technology, energy and water
• they all threaten environmental damage, from their scars of opencast mines, and land subsidence to the pollution of groundwater and oil spills.

Question 26

explain why players, in the harnessing of unconventional fossil fuels, have conflicting views

Answer 26

• exploration companies: profit over environmental protection
• leading oil and gas TNC’s: concerns over success of investments into unconventional fossil fuels over conventional ones
• gov: concerns over avoiding political fall-out over environmental protection vs possible energy security
• environmental groups: favour renewable energy sources
• affected communities: divided by those supporting (on grounds of jobs) vs those who’s homes are affected.

Question 27

what does the global drive to reduce CO2 emissions involve?

Answer 27

• increasing reliance on alternative sources of clean energy
• decoupling economic growth from dependency on fossil fuels
• widening the energy mix to include substantial inputs from both renewable and recyclable energy sources

Question 28

what are photovaltaic cells

Answer 28

most widely used method for generating electric power using solar cells to convert energy from the sun into an electric current that can be used to power equipment or recharge batteries

Question 29

what are the main renewable energy sources?

Answer 29

hydro, wind, solar (mainly via photovoltaic cells), geothermal and tidal

Question 30

why do not all countries have renewable energy to exploit?

Answer 30

• geographical/physical reasons: not all countries have coasts, strongly flowing rivers, or climates with either long sunshine hours or persistently strong winds
• financial costs of using renewable energy resources are much higher than oil and gas prices which are low
• harnessing of renewables is not without environmental costs (e.g drowning of a river valley to create HEP reservoirs or large areas of land used for solar or wind farms
• NIMBY- individuals like the idea of renewable harnessing until construction is due to occur close to where they live

Question 31

why is nuclear energy more sustainable than other non-renewable fossil fuels?

Answer 31

• it is reasonably carbon free

- nuclear waste can be reprocessed and reused, thereby making it a recyclable energy source.

Question 32

what are some negatives of using nuclear energy?

Answer 32

• risks to do with safety (accidents e.g Chernobyl Ukraine and Fukushima Japan) and security (terrorism)
• the disposal of radio-active waste with an incredibly long decay life
• the technology involved is complex and therefor its use is only an option for developed countries
• although the operational costs are low, the cost of construction and decommissioning power stations are high

Question 33

how has the UK changed its energy mix?

Answer 33

-complete shift away from coal since the 1970’s to almost 0 since 2005
-energy gap since reduced coal use has largely been filled by increased use of gas.
-reliance on oil has hardly changed
total energy consumption has declined since 1970 as the Uk has become more efficient both in producing energy and using it.

Question 34

what is biomass

Answer 34

organic matter used as fuel, as for example in power stations for the generation of electricity
has recently come into prominence with the commercial use

Question 35

what are the most widely grown biofuels

Answer 35

wheat, corn, grasses, soy beans and sugar cane

in UK, oilseed rape and sugar beet

Question 36

what is biofuel?

Answer 36

derived directly from biomass such as agricultural crops, forestry or fishery products and various forms of commercial and domestic waste.

Question 37

what is the difference between primary and secondary biofuel?

Answer 37

primary biofuels include fuelwood, wood pellets and other organic matter used in unprocessed form which is used primarily for heating, cooking, and electricity generation
secondary biofuels are derived from the processing of biomass inc liquid biomass such as ethanol which can be used a motor vehicles

Question 38

how has Brazil used biofuels?

Answer 38

since 1970, Brazil has taken steps to diversify its energy mix and improve its energy security

• has developed considerable hydro power resources
• has added biofuels to its energy mix: 90% of new passenger vehicles sold in the country have flex-fuel engines that work on petrol and ethanol (biofuel) so has led to a reduction in carbon emissions
• large areas have now been set aside for the cultivating of sugar cane and the subsequent production of ethanol.
• has however led to displacement of cattle farming as well as large scale clearance of Amazon basin which ironically nullifies the reduction in CO2 emissions gained from increased used of ethanol

Question 39

what are two examples of radical technologies being used to reduce carbon emissions

Answer 39

• carbon capture and storage- involves capturing CO2 released by the burning of fossil fuels and burins it deep underground.
-it is expensive
-uncertainty over whether it’ll stay trapped and won’t slowly leak to the surface
• hydrogen fuel cells- combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity heat and water
+will never lose their charge
-expensive to find an easy source of hydrogen