Resource security Flashcards

1
Q

What is a resource

A

Assets that are useful to society and are valued by people, and that contribute in someway to economic development

Examples include: energy, oil, water, coal and minerals

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2
Q

What two categories are there for resources

A

Stock and Flow

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3
Q

What is a stock resource

A

a finite and nonrenewable resource
they have taken millions of years to form and cannot be replenished over human timescales

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4
Q

What is a flow resource, and what is its sub category

A

resources that can continuously be replenished within human timescales, making them renewable
a sub category is a critical flow resource, which require careful human management to ensure their continued availability

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5
Q

what is a reserve and how do we classify something as one

A

deposits of minerals which can be extracted now, due to being economically viable and sufficient available technology and legal entitlement to enable extraction

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6
Q

What is a resource and how do we classify something as one

A

all deposits of mineral resources which may be viable to extract in future, with technological advances or an increase in demand for the mineral

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7
Q

what are some determining factors when thinking about the availability of resources

A

physical availability: patterns and quantities across the globe
economical viability: whether the price of the resource makes it worthwhile to extract the resource
political access: do you have permission to extract the resources from the government?
environmental concerns: can the resources be extracted without causing unwanted damage to the environment

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8
Q

what are the factors affecting the viability if mineral extraction? make a cloud

A

deposit
- depth of overburden
- geology of overburden
- hydrology -> pumping costs

economic
- transport costs
- extraction costs
- processing costs
- labour costs
- compensation costs

social
- noise pollution
- residents have to move away
- land use conflicts

environmental
- air pollution
- habitat destruction

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9
Q

What are physical risks relating to the accessibility of a resource

A
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10
Q

What are geopolitical risks relating to the accessibility of a resource

A
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11
Q

what is a resource frontiers

A

examples: south Sudan, arctic, deep seas, and Shetland islands
it is an area where resources are brought into production for the first time.

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12
Q

what are the characteristics of resources frontiers

A

peripheral environments
natural environments with little human development
extreme environments
may be within international territory

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13
Q

four things about resource frontiers

A
  • often in peripheral areas
  • extreme environments
  • within international territories
  • in natural environments where theres little to no human development
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14
Q

What is a resource peak

A

marks the point in time when the largest production of a mineral resource will occur in an area, production declining in subsequent years

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15
Q

What is the expected impacts of reaching a resource peak for companies exploiting the resources ?
On general public?
The environment?

A
  • Maximum rates of production = most profit, although they will ave to reduce outputs in the future
  • resource will be cheaper for the public
  • negative effect on environment, with huge contribution to climate change
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16
Q

What are some challenges for prediction

A
  • changes in technology
  • fears of post peak decline
  • major geopolitical events -> 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill
  • conflicts like war
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17
Q

What are some base metals

A

Copper, lead and zinc

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18
Q

What are some ferrous metals and ferroalloy metals

A

Iron, and alloys with chromium

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19
Q

What are some non ferrous metals

A

aluminium

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20
Q

What are some rare earth metals

A

scandium and yttrium

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21
Q

What are some precious metals

A

gold, silver and platinum

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22
Q

How is ‘finite nature’ of a resource an issue affecting mineral ores

A

the more we use, the more they are depleted

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23
Q

How is ‘price volatility’ of a resource an issue affecting mineral ores

A

the price of the resource fluctuates a lot

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24
Q

What are the rare earth metals

A

17 elements that are distributed in the earth’s crust randomly, and are used for specific technologies that are hard to find substitute metals

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25
Q

Who is the world’s largest rare earth metal producer

A

China, by a far amount

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26
Q

What are the issues with mining rare earths

A

Large use of chemicals to extract, which creates toxic waste
Refining and processing

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27
Q

Things about copper

A
  • heats up fast, cools down fast
  • great conductor
  • malleable
  • Reserves in Africa
  • major uses in decarbonisation (renewable energy)
    two kinds of: oxides and sulfides
  • 30 million tonnes per annul is used per year -> expected to double by 2050
  • lots of contributions of recycled copper
  • lots of use in electronics, hospitals (antibacterial properties)
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28
Q

Our example of a globally traded non-ferrous metal

A

Copper

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29
Q

sources of copper

A

igneous rocks as hydrothermal deposits, but also in sedimentary rocks

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30
Q

How copper is formed in porphyries

A

Crystals in cooling magma reduces the amount of solution that copper resided in,

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31
Q

How copper is formed in Strata-bound deposits

A

Mineral rich solutions infiltrated the layers of sedimentary rocks through cracks and fissures
Copper was then precipitated within the layers of sedimentary rocks

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32
Q

How copper is formed in massive sulfide deposits

A

Mineral ores are deposited in ‘nodules’ near the hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.

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33
Q

overall changes in production and consumption of copper?

A
  • increased due to the massive increase of electronic goods
  • increased due to better technologies in locating and mining for the mineral
  • increased slower in recent years as China, the biggest importer, has been developing more slowly so therefore less copper has been bought by them
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34
Q

outline the key importing nations of copper and how this is changing

A

China and America

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35
Q

In what forms is copper traded in

A

refined
technology
raw material
cathodes and anodes
recycled materials

36
Q

how did the COVID pandemic affect the demand for copper, and how did this affect the price

A
  • demand decreased
  • because less people are building and working due to isolation
  • so less need
37
Q

who are some of the key players in the copper industry (TNC’s)

A

Glen core (1.06 mt)
Coldelco ( 1.9 mt) -> Chile based

38
Q

what percentage of recycled copper makes up the global trade?

39
Q

What is a resource curse

A

When a country or place is really resource rich, leading it to be exploited and lead to corruption e.g. Nigeria, which is rich is oil but a huge proportion of the country doesn’t have access to electricity

40
Q

What are massive sulfide deposits

A

deposits that sit under water along ocean ridges

41
Q

what are the 4 A’s of energy security

A

Availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability

42
Q

What kinds of sources of energy are there (2)

A

primary and secondary

43
Q

what is primary energy

A

energy that is found in nature that has not undergone a transformation process

44
Q

what is secondary energy

A

energy derived from a conversion process

45
Q

what are some examples of primary energy

A

coal, oil, gas, hydropower, wood

46
Q

what are some examples of secondary energy

A

PV solar, thermal power stations

47
Q

what are the main categories that demand energy

A

domestic needs, industry, transport, and services

48
Q

factors that affect a country’s energy mix

A

availability
physical location/conditions (e.g. landlocked)
inertia -> keeping what you already have due to effort/cost involved in changing
government energy policies e.g. Paris agreement
geopolitics e.g. having international relationships with other countries who can provide energy
level of development
diversity increases secureness

49
Q

How does climate affect energy supplies and quality

A

areas with high precipitation are placed better as rainfall is high enough upstream to generate a powerful and consistent-enough river flow
sunshine hours make solar power more exploitable, especially when daylight hours are long throughout the year
bio mass strength depends in climates that encourage rapid growth of plant material

50
Q

How does geology affect energy supplies and quality

A

tectonic plate structure can render safety threats to nuclear power stations (e.g. Fukushima, Japan)
geothermal crust is particularly thin in some places, making the potential for geothermal energy here greater

51
Q

How does drainage systems affect energy supplies and quality

A

freshwater is often needed as water needs to be uncontaminated water to produce steam that turns turbines.
Dam construction requires large amounts of water and water flows consistently into the system. It needs a suitable topography and geology - impermeable and hard

52
Q

@ Athabasca Tar sands: what is being extracted

53
Q

what is meant by unconventional sources of oil

A

not feasibly accessible with conventional drilling methods

54
Q

@ Athabasca Tar sands: how much crude bitumen is estimated to be recoverable

A

175 billion barrels

55
Q

@ Athabasca Tar sands: what are the environmental impacts on water and energy use

A

people think the water has become cancerous, and fish have had increasingly more mutations

56
Q

@ Athabasca Tar sands: impacts on boreal forest

57
Q

@ Athabasca Tar sands:

58
Q

What are some strategies and explain them for reducing energy consumption

A

Congestion charges - London introduced the ULEZ and LEZ zones -> costs more and forces people to get ULEZ complaint cars
Drip feed irrigation - expensive but reduced water loss in farming practices
Better housing - big windows, tripled glazed windows, wall insulation, insulated tanks pipes and radiators

59
Q

what are some strategies to increase energy supply

A

more investment into renewable energy
government subsides
import more energy
energy companies can do more exploration in resource frontiers

60
Q

what are the reasons for a country increasing its energy supply

61
Q

what does a healthy energy mix look like

62
Q

Supply management strategies (Oil and gas explorations) for increasing

A

Oil and gas exploration
- countries and more willing to grant exploration rights to TNCs in these circumstances, e.g. even tho the north sea oil and gas reserves are past their peak, exploration continues and new discoveries are still being made
- price rises prompt large TNCs to develop new technologies to access previously unviable reserves

63
Q

Supply management strategies (NUCLEAR) for increasing energy supply

A
  • intended to increase new nuclear capacity in the UK as it is seen as an important part of increasing energy supply
  • EDFs investment in building the £25 billion project to build new reactors on existing sites
64
Q

Supply management strategies (renewable resources) for increasing energy supply

A

Paris climate in 2016 lead to the development of renewable energy
UK is now the world leader in offshore wind energy, generating around 10% of the nations energy supply
some developments include Blackfriars bridge -> worlds largest solar bridge with 4400 solar PV panels installed

65
Q

Supply management strategies (fracking) for increasing energy supply

A

TNCs are prompted to develop large technologies to access previously unviable (unethical to extract) reserves, so fracking operations in the UK were stopped in 2019.
They attracted protests from environmentalists, especially post the 2.9 mag earthquake created by fracking in Lancashire.
So a moratorium on operations was placed

66
Q

Explain why acid rain is an international issue.

A

it is a migrating pollution, for example SE asia faces the consequences of industry pollution from recent industrialisation from China and India

67
Q

explain how the problem of acid rain is changing spatially and temporally

A

occurring more often, especially in places downstream wind circulation of industrialising places

68
Q

discuss some different methods of managing acid rain

A

place catalytic converters on all cars
burn fossil fuels with lower sulfur content
transition from coal to cleaner sources of energy for electrical generation

69
Q

what is the enhanced greenhouse effect

A

it is the solar insolation from the Sun getting trapped in the lower atmosphere by greenhouse gases when it is re-radiated from the Earth’s surface

70
Q

what causes the greenhouse effect

A

the rise in consumption of fossil fuels has significantly increased greenhouse gases e.g. CO2 levels are 40% higher than before the Industrial revolution
leading to more radiation being re-emitted

71
Q

why does the greenhouse effect matter?

A

causes rises in temperature, leading to many knock on effects such as melting of ice sheets, so sea level rise, so more salt inundation of low lying lands, so less people can grow and eat, leading to migration e.g. Kiribati & Sundarbans
Large scale weather events are more likely to occur, which can also kill thousands in one swoop

72
Q

What are some key concerns over nuclear waste

A
  • risks associated with nuclear accidents (Chernobyl)
  • disposal of nuclear waste
  • health and safety concerns -> particularly leukaemia and other cancers
  • potential contamination of water supplies
    concern over crop and grazing animals
73
Q

How is nuclear waste managed
and and example of WHO

A

nuclear waste is converted into soli blocks of glass and stored in steel-clad or lead-lined glass containers underground
the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has responsibility

74
Q

If there are so many concerns over nuclear waste, why is it a plausible option for increasing energy supply

A

15% of the Uk’s total electricity comes from nuclear power stations, however this is declining
it protects air quality as there’s no CO2 emitted from the production of electricity -> barely any carbon footprint

75
Q

What are some cons of disposing of nuclear waste

A

needs to buried 200-1000m deep in geologically stable rock types
expensive to purchase land for this purpose
requires safe transport links for the transport of waste from power stations
concerns that the site may become the target of terrorism attacks

76
Q

five reasons why we need water

A

drinking and hydration
coolant for industrial processes
agricultural and irrigation
washing and hygiene
hydropower

77
Q

what are the 3 main sources of water

A

Surface water supplies
Underground stores
Seawater, after desalination

78
Q

what are some examples of surface water supplies

A

rivers and reservoirs

79
Q

what are some examples of underground stores of water

A

groundwater aquifers

80
Q

what are some problems with over pumping ground water

A

gets contaminated with salt water
the ground above may collapse due to instability

81
Q

what percentage of the world’s use of water is used in agriculture

82
Q

what percentage of the world’s use of water is used in domestic

83
Q

what is water stress and when does it occur and the specific value

A

occurs when demand for water exceeds the available amount during a certain period or when poor quality restricts its use
when water availability is less than 1,700m3 per person per year

84
Q

what kinds of drought are there

A

agricultural
meteorological
hydrological