Fossil fuels - 19th and 20th centuries

Question 1

How much of the world’s primary energy was created by fossil fuels in 2015, and how does this compare to 1990

Answer 1

2015: 86%

1990: 90%

Question 2

Between what period did America’s GDP double

Answer 2

1880-1900

Question 3

Give 3 peculiarities that shaped countries industrialisation patterns

Answer 3

French emphasis on water power, America’s and Russia’s longlasting reliance on wood, and Japan’s tradition of meticulous craftsmanship

Question 4

What was total fossil fuel consumption in 1950, and what was it in 2000

Answer 4

1950: 2 billion tons

2000: 8 billion tons

Question 5

When was the age of coal

Answer 5

1800-1914

Question 6

When was the age of oil and gas

Answer 6

1880-present

Question 7

When was the first Earth Day held, and how many participated

Answer 7

22 April 1970

estimated 20 million

Question 8

In 2000 how many Americans were a member of an environmental organisation?

Answer 8

14 million

Question 9

When did Nixon sign the National Environmental Policy Act and what did it do

Answer 9

1 January 1970

Required federal agencies to conduct environmental impact assessments before embarking on development projects

Question 10

Name 3 anti-smoke organisations in America

Answer 10

Anti-Smoke League in Baltimore (1905), Smoke Abatement League in Cincinnati (1906), Society for the Prevention of Smoke in Chicago (1892)

Question 11

What was the argument for smoke

Answer 11

Smoke = prosperity

Question 12

What was the Great Smog of London

Answer 12

Coal led to a smog killing 4,000 people in the fog of December 4- 10, 1952.

Question 13

What was the result of the Great Smog

Answer 13

Clean Air Act of 1956, which sharply regulated domestic coal smoke. This helped London switch to gas and electric heat

Question 14

How did soot inhalation in Glasgow change between 1950 and 1990

Answer 14

In 1950, Glaswegians inhaled 2 pounds of soot each year, by 1990 Glasgow had reduced smoke, soot, and sulfur dioxide pollution by 70 to 95 percent

Question 15

When was oil widely adopted in place of coal and why

Answer 15

1910 but especially after 1950- mainly due to price reasons due to US and Middle Eastern oil + infrastructure improvements

Question 16

How did the USSR and China affect fossil fuel use

Answer 16

Both were major polluters who focused on heavy industry with little to no consideration of the environment. Encapsulated by Mao’s Mao’s “Man must conquer Nature” slogan

Question 17

Why did people care more about the environment in the late 1900’s

Answer 17

Shift to 5 day a week working meant people wanted to enjoy their leisure time, often in nature which led to increased awareness of conservation

Question 18

How did the proportion of Germans who took vacation trips of a week or more rise between 1957 and 1972

Answer 18

1957: 36%

1972: 53%

Question 19

How much of the world’s energy is provided by nuclear energy

Answer 19

10%

Question 20

How much of France’s energy is nuclear

Answer 20

70%

Question 21

What were the primary drivers of anti-smoke campiagns

Answer 21

Cleanliness and property interests (not health)

Question 22

How much did the total number of cars in the United States increase between 1916 and 1939

Answer 22

1916: 1.5 million

1939: 31 million

Question 23

When was the Federal Highway Act and what did it do

Answer 23

1956

Authorised federal funding to build 66,000km intercity road network

Question 24

How much did intercity travel in the US increase between 1949 and 1969

Answer 24

771.5 billion passenger-kilometers in 1949 to 1.8 trillion in 1969

Question 25

What were the indirect impacts of automobile growth

Answer 25

Significant impact in countries outside of US and western Europe due to the need for materials e.g. rubber

Suburbanisation in the US

Huge increase in emissions

Question 26

How does oil compare to coal

Answer 26

Per kilogram, oil contains twice as much energy as coal and is much easier to transport, store, and process

Question 27

In 2000 what was the world’s energy mix

Answer 27

liquid fuels (mainly oil) generated approximately 39 percent of the world’s energy, compared with 22 percent for coal and 22 percent for natural gas; the three fossil fuels together produced over 80 percent of the world’s energy

Question 28

When was the Saudi Gwhar oil field discovered

Answer 28

1948

Question 29

What was the 1970s oil crisis

Answer 29

Oil prices jumped from $2.59 a barrel in January 1973 to $11.65 a barrel in January 1974 (up to 35$ a barrel in 1980)

Question 30

What is the outlook on oil running out

Answer 30

Unlikely, new technologies and discoveries allow continued extraction of oil albeit at an often greatly increased cost with worse efficiency

E.g.Alberta tar sands produce 5-15% more c02 than conventional oil drilling

Question 31

How have carbon emissions risen in 1900-2000-2011

Answer 31

0.6 billion tons a year in 1900 (of which almost none was from petroleum) to 7.2 billion tons in 2000 and to 9 billion tons in 2011 (around 40 percent from petroleum)

Question 32

How have technological advances helped the automobile industry reduce emissions

Have they actually reduced emissions

Answer 32

Technical advances reduced the amount of pollutants that each car produced by 60 to 80 percent between the 1960s and the 1990s

Positive benefits of pollution control have been far less than had been hoped, because they were almost cancelled out by the ever-increasing number of vehicles

Question 33

How large was the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Answer 33

Lasted for eighty-eight days and spewed 4.9 million barrels

Question 34

What % of electricity production is currently renewable

Answer 34

26%