Resource Management Flashcards
What factors affect energy supply?
- war / corruption / politics
- environmental conditions
- cost
- technology
- geology
- climate
Physical Factors affecting energy supply:
- Relief: does the country have mountains suitable for hydropower e.g France
- Is the country in area of tectonic activity so can exploit geothermal energy e.g Iceland
- The geology of the area which determines whether coal, oil or gas has been formed millions of years ago
- Climate: very sunny or very windy climate - suitable for solar? e.g Spain
- Natural Hazards experienced regularly by a country may mean some energy types are too high risk e.g Nuclear power in location of tectonic instability
Human Factors Affecting energy supply:
- Economic development - whether a country can afford to exploit the resource
- Technology: access to exploit resources in difficult conditions? e.g North Sea and Arctic
- Fear of political instability: oil producing countries look to supply their needs from other sources like nuclear on renewables as countries like Russia are volatile
- Public opinion: anti-nuclear feelings
- Political Agreements favouring renewables and phasing out fossils fuels e.g EU
- Cheapest used first (fossil fuels)
- Innovation e.g fracking
World Population fact - peak
- peak at 10 billion in 2083
What challenges might the world’s population face?
- Refugees
- Drought
- Desertification
- Extinction
- Homelessness
- Issues with trade
- Loss of Great Barrier Reef
- Fossil Fuels
- Economic issues like cost of living
- Loss of rainforests
- Eco-wars
- Extreme climates
- Struggle with healthcare
- Famine
Key Definition: What is a resource?
- A naturally occurring substance which can be used in its own right or made into something else.
- These are the things that we need to live and work.
Energy resources -
- Resources that are burned to produce heat and electricity
- e.g coal, fossil fuels, gas, oil
Mineral Resources -
- Materials mined from the ground and then heated to become materials that are used
- e.g bauxite, iron ore, uranium
Natural resources -
- using nature/natural resources to produce power
- e.g solar, wind, hydro-electric, waves, geo-thermal, biogas
Biological resources -
- from living plants or animal waste
- e.g trees, biomass
What is happening to our use of the world’s resources?
- Oil, gas, coal increasing rapidly
- Nuclear decreasing
- Renewable increasing slowly
What % of its food does the UK import?
40%
Why do we import food?
- Demand for greater choice and more exotic foods because our tastes have changed and we have more access to foreign foods and tastes
- Demand for seasonal produce all year round because it is an expectation
- Foods produced cheaper abroad because of fewer regulations, cheaper labour and cheaper land
- The UK Climate is inconsistent
- UK Produced food can be expensive because of increased rules and pesticides
Positives of importing food UK
- Greenhouses require electricity which makes it more expensive
- New Zealand apply less fertiliser. Fertilisers require large amounts of energy and cause high CO2 emissions.
- The only CO2 produced by transporting these foods is the extra produced by the plane due to the food’s weight > flights used to transport food and passengers
- Sometimes, taking locally grown organic food to the market can cause high emissions as less food is taken in a van than the lorries that take food to the supermarkets
Negatives importing food UK
- British farmers earn less
- Vehicles that transport food emit greenhouse gases e.g CO2
- Food loses its freshness and vitamins
- Cruel for cattle to travel a long way in poor conditions before they are slaughtered.
- Asthma due to air pollution in lorries and planes
- Not a wide choice of fruit / veg because shops buy in food with a long life that can travel long distances without being damaged.
Ways UK meets food security challenges
- Agribusiness
- Organic Produce
- Locally Sourced
- Growing Your Own
Agribusiness:
- Intensive farming aimed at maximising the amount of food produced.
- Farms are run as commercial businesses.
- They have high levels of investment and use modern technology and chemicals.
The result:
- More home food produced and less reliance on food imports.
The Red Tractor Label
- assures consumers that the source of food is British and has been inspected for safety, welfare and environmental impacts
Organic Produce:
- Grown without the use of chemicals.
- Higher labour costs have made it more expensive.
- Often associated with buying local produce and producing seasonal foods.
Locally Sourced:
- Save air miles and boost home production.
- Increasing number of farmer markets around the country.
- Restaurants sometimes now label the origins of food and work with food producers.
Growing Your Own:
- on allotments.
- Nearly 1/3 of British adults grow their own food, and this number is increasing.
UK Average Footprint vs World Average
- 8.8 Tonnes UK vs 6.3 Tonnes World
How many litres of water does an average UK Citizen use per day?
- 149L
UK Water: Supply and Demand
- SUPPLY IN NORTH
- DEMAND IN SOUTH
Water Surplus (KEY DEF)
- when there is more water available for use than the demand for it
Water Deficit (KEY DEF)
- When the demand for water is more than that which is available
Water Stress (KEY DEF)
- when the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a certain period or when poor quality restricts its use.
Distribution of Water Stress
- More in south
Kielder Water - what is it?
- The biggest “man made” lake in Northern Europe.
- Opened in 1981.
- It took two years for the lake behind the dam to fill.
Good things about Kielder Water:
- £6 million raised through tourism there every year. Many people use the reservoir for water sports.
- Lake is 11km long and stores nearly 200,000 million litres of water which helps in times of water shortages.
- 260 employees, 150 million standing trees
- Dam holds back rainwater and prevents flooding further down the dam
- Hydro-electric power station generates 6MW of power > enough for 200,000 homes
Bad things about Kielder Water plan:
- When the dam is fully completed, the roservoir behind the dam will food an area of scenic natural beauty, home to some very rare insects and birds.
- The project will cost many £millions and will cause much environmental disturbance.
- 2,700 acres of farmland and habitat will be lost as a result of the scheme.
- The scheme includes 8 sites of Spectal Scientific Interest (SSSI), covering 7,800ha and containing unique plants and animals. Kielder is one of the last places for red squirrels in England; this would be affected by the dam.
- 58 families were displaced from their homes by the damn, their houses disappearing beneath the lake that formed.
- The building of the pipeline will cause huge environmental damage, and where the pipeline travels over the surface, people complain that it looks ugly and ruins the views of the countryside.
- Reducing the flow of water from a river changes the landscape. A dam holds back sediment, especially the gravel and pebbles. The depletion of riverbed gravels reduces spawning grounds for fish and invertebrates.
Energy Mix (KEY DEF)
- the range of energy sources of a region, either renewable or non-renewable