Global Resource Consumption and Security Flashcards
About how much money does the middle class earn per day?
between $10-$100
What factors are increased with the middle class?
Increased disposable income
Increase in consumption per person
What are the causes of the ‘swelling middle’?
Increased population
Increased manufacturing and economic prosperity
Globalisation
Improved health care
What are the problems with the growing middle class?
- There is a higher demand for goods and services meaning more travel, electricity, food, water.
- Encourages scarcity and all means a larger carbon footprint.
What is an ecological footprint?
The theoretical measurement of the amount of land and water a population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste under prevailing technology.
What is ecological footprint measured in?
global hectares
When are countries living unsustainably?
When they are living with a larger footprint than their land.
How do countries increase their ecological footprint?
Relying heavily on fossil fuels
High levels of imported resources
Having a meat rich diet
Having a large per capita food consumption
How do countries reduce Ecological Footprint?
- Reducing amount of resources they use
- Recycling/Re-using resources
- Improving technology to increase carrying capacity e.g. GM crops to increase yield on same amount of land.
What is happening to water consumption and therefore availability?
water consumption is increasing therefore the availability is decreasing.
How does Pollution and Eutrophication contribute to water availability decreasing?
Pollution and Eutrophication: Intensive farming requires a lot of fertilizers, leading to runoff into water bodies leading to eutrophication. Concentrated pastoral farming often uses many antibiotics and animal waste also runs off into water systems leading to polluted water and increased eutrophication.
How does embedded water contribute to water availability decreasing?
Embedded water: A measure of the amount of water used in the production and transport to market food and commodities (also known as virtual water/water footprint). It may include the use of local water resources and the use of water resources in distant places. It takes 1300 L of water to produce 1kg of wheat and 1500 L to produce 1kg of beef.
How does increased consumption contribute to water availability decreasing?
Due to the growth of the middle class, increased population, increased industry, embedded water, household uses etc.:
- population has tripled since 1914 and water consumption has increased sixfold. (food, baths/showers, toilets, dishwashers etc.)
- demand is predicted to exceed the global supply by 40% by 2030.
- meat consumption is expected to double by 2050. Hence water consumption is expected to increase accordingly.
How does climate change contribute to water availability decreasing?
2/3 of our freshwater is stored in ice caps and glaciers, as these melt, the proportion of freshwater that we have decreases. Also changing weather patterns can mean that there is increased drought in some areas, hence limiting water availability and saltwater intrusion can be a cause of climate change or caused by groundwater extraction.
How does wasted water contribute to water availability decreasing?
In many areas especially where water scarcity is a problem, water is wasted by consumers, by industry, by agriculture, by poor infrastructure.
Up to 36% of all water that goes into water pipes in Boston is wasted, due to the poor infrastructure.
What are some examples of renewable energy types?
- Nuclear power plants
- Wind Turbines
- Solar Panels
- Hydroelectric power plants
- Biomass energy
How is nuclear energy produced?
Nuclear energy originates from the splitting of uranium atoms through a process called fission. This generates heat to produce steam, which is used by a turbine generator to generate electricity.
It is considered a renewable energy source as it does not rely on the burning of fossil fuels.
What are the cons of nuclear energy?
There is a risk of having a nuclear meltdown. For example, Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011. Despite all the safety measures in place, these nuclear plants undergo meltdown which is devastating for the environment. The local inhabitants may also have to flee the area. The death toll for Chernobyl was 54 people, and the estimated projected death is 4000 in the longer time.
The potential of nuclear power may not be worth the risk of powerful radiation leaks, mass evacuations and billions spent in repair.
Nuclear power plants are very expensive to build. It takes about $6 billion to build a nuclear power plant, and not only this but the maintenance costs are substantial and can potentially even exceed the initial production costs required in the early stages to simply implement the nuclear power plant.
There is a risk of a terrorist attacking the nuclear power plant due to the fissile plutonium component of the waste which can be re-used as bomb fuel.
Evaluate the future use of nuclear energy.
Nuclear power can be deemed as a non-renewable energy resource and therefore unsustainable because there is a limited supply of uranium 235. But, nuclear energy is a zero emission energy resource. It does not pollute the air, unlike several non-renewable resources. Furthermore, nuclear power stations use a small footprint in comparison to solar and wind farms.
What are the suitable/non suitable places where nuclear power plants can be built?
- Geographically, nuclear power plants should be built away from large urban areas, and near places where there is a large amount of water available for cooling because a lot of heat is created as the generator turns and because of the nuclear fission that is the main principle behind the generation of electricity, and this needs to be expelled via its condenser system. This should also be built away from animal habitat locations because it can disrupt the ecological balance of the region.
- The topography of the location has to be taken into account, it has to be built on flat ground.
What are the suitable/non suitable places where wind energy can be produced?
- coastal areas, top of rounded hills and gaps in mountains - places where wind is strong and reliable
- non suitable areas include deserts where there’s not much wind.
How do wind turbines work?
There is a generator in the wind turbine which turns via the blades turning the Coggs. The energy is produced entirely from the wind however the manufacturing for the generators, wind turbines etc are from fossil fuels and one may suggest that because of this it is less sustainable.
What are the advantages of wind turbines?
- Its renewable and sustainable. Winds are caused by heating of the atmosphere by the sun, earth surface irregularities and the rotation of the earth. The energy produced can be harnessed and it will never run out unlike the Earth’s fossil fuel reserves.
- It is cost effective as the wind is readily available and free. The technology is also becoming cheaper.
Job creation. Jobs have been created for the manufacture of wind turbines, the installation and maintenance of wind turbines and also in wind energy consulting.
What are the drawbacks of wind turbines?
- Fluctuation of wind and good wind sites. Wind energy is not a constant energy source. Although it may never run out, the wind isn’t always blowing. For a wind turbine to be efficient, the location where it is built needs to have an adequate supply of wind energy.
- Noise and aesthetic pollution. Wind turbines generate noise and visual pollution. A single wind turbine can be heard from hundreds of meters away.
- Threat to wildlife. Birds have been killed by flying into spinning turbine blades. However, this problem has become less of a threat due to technological development or by properly siting wind plants.