Reliance on fossil fuels to drive economic development is still the global norm Flashcards
What are fossil fuels relied on for?
driving economic development
What is there a mismatch between with fossil fuels?
locations of conventional fuel supply (production) and location for demand (consumer)
What 2 countries are high producers of coal but low consumers?
India and Kazakhstan
What 2 countries have high consumption of coal but low production?
South Korea
Japan
What are some examples of countries that are high oil producers but not high consumers?
Saudi Arabia
Russia
Iran
Iraq
Norway
Kazakhstan
Columbia
India
What are some examples of countries that are high oil consumers but not high producers?
France
Spain
South Korea
Japan
How can physical geography cause a mismatch between locations of production and consumption?
fossil fuels were formed many millions of years ago from prehistoric plants and animals and coal, oil and gas were formed under specific conditions meaning that geographically some countries have low supply and some have high supply
Lack of resources in some countries or peak in resources (Japan, China, USA, UK)
How can human geography affect the locations that are supplier or consumers? (fossil fuels)
level of economic development (tech to access stores Nigeria or DRC)
supply outstrips demand in some countries (Saudi Arabia, Russia)
Who is the second largest producer of gas?
Russia
Why is it thought that Russia imports so much gas?
to help meet its own needs
Where does most of Russia’s gas exports go?
Europe via a network of pipelines
How many pipelines export gas from Russia?
4
What is the geopolitical significance of the Russian gas pipelines?
3 of the 4 go through Ukraine where there is high tensions especially after Russia annexed Crimea
How can Ukraine make life difficult for Russian pipelines?
threatening to hike the price it charges for allowing transfer of gas across its territory
What has increased Russian anxiety about their pipelines in Ukraine?
the possibility that Ukraine might join the EU and become a member of NATO
What 2 basic options does Russia have to deal with Ukraine and its pipelines?
Substantially reduce or stop delivery of gas across Ukraine by exporting most of the gas through northern pipeline putting Finland and Poland in same situation
Annex the Ukraine (went step further and went into conflict)
What does the the EU need to do with its dependence on Russia gas?
Wise not to increase it due to the strained political relations
What problem does the UK have with importing gas from Russia?
Majority will come from Qatar but is doubling its import form Russia to 29.1 billion cubic meters (due to decline output from north sea gas fields)
What is the positive for the UK and Russian oil?
Don’t have to rely on it as pipelines don’t extend that far
What is still the problem for Russia and its oil pipelines?
Still run through Ukraine
Who mainly uses Russian oil?
Germany and Poland
How much of the UK’s gas is from Russia?
1/3
How is Europe economically starving Russia during the war?
Not buying any oil or gas
What is the price of oil per barrel at present?
$112
Why did the price per barrel of oil increase in 1973?
Syria and Egypt invaded Israel
How did Syria and Egypt invading Israel increase the price of oil?
Israel eventually won with US support
The 2 countries who invaded were Muslim going into a Jewish country (historical tension)
Arab nations retaliated against west with an oil embargo (don’t sell- most oil comes from this region)
What led to a further increase in oil prices in 1979? (Iran)
Iranian revolution
How did the Iranian revolution increase oil prices?
Iran’s monarch was overthrown and the Shah (king) forced to flee
Islamic fundamentalist government took power
Iran’s oil production disrupted by chaos
(reduced supply with same demand- recession)
Why did oil prices increase in 1980?
Iraq attacked Iran
Why did oil prices increase in 1990?
Iraq invaded kuwait (1st gulf war)
Why did the Iraq invasion of Kuwait increase oil prices?
Oil wells in both Iraq and Juwait were destroyed in the fighting
What led to a decrease in oil prices in 1997-98?
Asian financial crisis
Why did the Asian financial crisis cause a decrease in oil prices?
Recession hit many SE asian NICs
Demand for oil falls as industry cut back
What led to led to a small dip in oil prices in 2001?
september 11th 2001 terrorist attack on world trade centre New york
Why did 9/11 lead to a decrease in oil prices?
Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked commercial passenger jet airliners
3000 people killed
Decline in air passenger numbers
Why did Hurricane katrina cause a increase in oil prices?
2005
Damage to oil refineries in New orleans USA meant they had to import in oil
What happened in 2007+ that caused a decrease in oil prices?
Financial crisis/ world recession
How did the 2007 financial crisis cause a decrease in oil prices?
Affected many of worlds largest banks
Governments borrow billions to try stop meltdown
People not as willing to spend
What happend between 2008-2011 that caused fluctuations in oil prices?
Middle east protests
Why did the middle east protests cause fluctuations in oil prices?
Wave of civil unrest and protests against supressive governments (couldnt focus on oil production)
What unconventional ways are there for energy supplies?
Tar sands
Oil shale
Shale gas
Deepwater oil
What is tar sand?
mixture of clay, sand water and bitumen (heavy, viscous oil)
How are tar sands extracted?
Mined and then injected with steam to make the tar less viscous so it can be pumped out
What is oil shale?
Oil bearing rocks that are permeable enough to allow the oil to be pumped direclty out
How is oil shale extracted?
Either mined or shale is ignited so that the light oil fractions can be pumped out
What is shale gas?
Natural gas trapped in fine grained sedimentary rocks
How is shale gas extracted?
Fracking- pumping in water and chemicals forces out the gas
What is deepwater oil?
Oil and gas that is found well offshore and at considerable oceanic depths
How is deepwater oil extracted?
Drilling takes place from ocean rigs: already underway in the Gulf of Mexico and off Brazil
Who are the major players in the harnessing of unconventioanl fossil fuels?
Exploration companies
Environmental groups
Affected communities
Governments
What is the role of exploration companies in unconventional fossil fuels?
Sub-contractors (halliburton- not shell)
Bigger companies have financial risk of finding and opening new reserves, their search for oil and gas not NEW sources
What is the role of environmentalist groups in unconventional fossil fuels?
Extraction has adverse effects on environment
Greenpeace get public attention
What ways are the local community affected by unconventional fossil fuels?
Positive and negative
negative= pollution and disturbance
Positive= job opportunities, inflow of investment and improved services
What is the role of the government in unconventional fosil fuels?
Want to be seen as caring for the environment
But also have responsibility to ensure and improve energy security
Private sector take the financial risk with searching for new energy sources
Where is the main tar sand reserve?
Alberta Canada
How many billions or barrels are there in the tar sands of Alberta Canada?
170
How much capital investment has there been into the tar sand plant? (canada)
$300 billion (mainly USA)
How large is the tar sand area of Canada?
142,000km*2
What 2 ways are tar sands mined?
Open pit
Underground mining
How much of the tar sand is mined by open pit? (canada)
20% from up to 75m in depth
99% recovered
How much tar sand is from underground mining? (canada)
80% from 75m and below
50% recovered
How much investment a year does the Canada tar sands receive a year?
$19 billion
How much of Canadas crude oil export goes to the USA?
99%
What are the environmental effects of mining tar sands?
Deforestation
Wildlife damage
Water pollution (rivers and aquifers)
GHG emissions (climate change)
How much water is needed to produce a barrel of oil from tar sands? (In barrels)
3.1 billion barrels
How much of the global oil reserve is in Canadian tar sands?
11%
How much GHG come from tar sand compared to conventional methods?
3 times more
What was a fine for pollution from tar sands?
CAN$3 million for killing 1000 birds in tailings pond
What is tailings?
waste from producing oil from tar sands
How many barrels of tailings are produced from one barrel of tar sands oil?
6-12
How many people have been employed by the tar sand industry?
500,000
What is an example of deep water oil mining
going wrong?
deep water horizon oil spill
How many workers were killed by the deepwater horizon spill?
11
How many gallons were spilled per day at peak deepwater horizon spill?
504,000-800,000
How many gallons of oil was floating on the ocean surface after the Horizon spill?
1/4 million
What was the problem with oil reaching land after the horizon spill?
land contamination
What is the employment issue with oil rigs?
Not many employed so little tax return
How many oil dispersant chemical was released after the Horizon spill?
1900 gallons
Why was the Horizon spill so bad?
Deepwater spills are hard to correct/ fill so oil was able to escape for months
How many miles of fisheries were banned form being fished?
88,000 as fish coated in oil
What is used to crack the rock in fracking?
Perforating gun + fracking fluid allowing the gas and oil to escape
What is the composition of fracking fluid?
90% water
Other 10%= acids, friction reduction compound, disinfectant, clay or silt
Why is clay and sand part of fracking fluid?
To keep the cracks in the rock open after the pressure has reduced
How much water is used by fracking well?
3-6 million gallons
What is the problem with so much water being used in fracking wells?
Can have a noticeable effect on reducing local water supply
What is the waste water from fracking called?
Flowback
What is the composition of flow back?
salts
radiation
hydrocarbons
What can you do with flowback?(fracking)
Stored in pits
Recycled
What is the problem with recycling flowback?
Increases the concentration of contamination
Why has fracking been banned in the UK for over 1 and a half years?
Earthquakes and its effect on seismicity
(3.8 magnitude earthquake)
Why is burning fuel from fracking thought to be better then coal?
As it releases half as much carbon then coal when burned
What potentially more harmful climate gas is released when fracking?
methane which is 23 times more potent then carbon dioxide
Why are many against the continued investment into fracking?
Takes time and resources away from developing sustainable and renewable technology
What is the benefit of fracking for energy security?
Can boost the energy security of many nations as shale is very common
What human environmental issues are there with fossil fuels?
technical problems
Supplies running out
Supplies might be diverted for greater profit
Many fossil fuel resources and pathways are in politically unstable regions
Piracy
What are the technical problems of fossil fuels?
Pipeline leaks e.g., Siberia
How is Siberia an example of the technical problems of fossil fuels?
Gazprom
Kolva river oil spill, 1994
How much oil was spilled in the Kolva river? (Siberia)
84 million gallons
How did the Kolva oil spill occur? (Siberia)
Corroded pipeline leaked oil for 8 months behind a dike (sheet of rock) built to contain it collapsed
What is an example of fossil fuel supply running out?
North sea oil which is used by the UK
What is an example of diverting fossil fuel for greater profit? (WW2)
Trigger for USA joining war was pearl harbour (Japanese attack), they attacked as US agreed to give them oil but USA instead gave it to UK who was in war
What is the problem with fossil fuel resources and pathways being in politically unstable locations?
political tensions and disagreements may lead to pathways being blocked at ‘choke points’
what is an example of fossil fuel resources and pathways in unstable regions?
Niger
What is the average wage for the Nigerian population?
less than $1 per day
How much of the oil revenue from Nigeria is supposed to be reinvested to local area?
13% but this doesn’t make its way to the poor due to corrupt government
What is the result of money not being reinvested into local area? (Nigeria)
No hospital (cholera and typhus)
No secondary school
What has happened to fishing in Nigeria?
No big fish left only small ones due to oil pollution
Fish have to be washed in Omo so they can be eaten
What health problems are prominent in Nigeria?
Asthma
Bronchitis
Skin diseases
How much carbon is released by burning excess gas in Nigeria?
70 million tons
Why do ships have to hire security teams for protection?
Piracy particularly in Somalian water
Why should disrupted pathways become less important?
as energy mixes change, because many renewable resources are ubiquitous (available everywhere)
