Resource security Flashcards
What is a resource
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
What two categories are there for resources
Stock and Flow
What is a stock resource
a finite and nonrenewable resource
they have taken millions of years to form and cannot be replenished over human timescales
What is a flow resource, and what is its sub category
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
what is a reserve and how do we classify something as one
deposits of minerals which can be extracted now, due to being economically viable and sufficient available technology and legal entitlement to enable extraction
What is a resource and how do we classify something as one
all deposits of mineral resources which may be viable to extract in future, with technological advances or an increase in demand for the mineral
what are some determining factors when thinking about the availability of resources
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
what are the factors affecting the viability if mineral extraction? make a cloud
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
What are physical risks relating to the accessibility of a resource
What are geopolitical risks relating to the accessibility of a resource
what is a resource frontiers
examples: south Sudan, arctic, deep seas, and Shetland islands
it is an area where resources are brought into production for the first time.
what are the characteristics of resources frontiers
peripheral environments
natural environments with little human development
extreme environments
may be within international territory
four things about resource frontiers
- often in peripheral areas
- extreme environments
- within international territories
- in natural environments where theres little to no human development
What is a resource peak
marks the point in time when the largest production of a mineral resource will occur in an area, production declining in subsequent years
What is the expected impacts of reaching a resource peak for companies exploiting the resources ?
On general public?
The environment?
- 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
What are some challenges for prediction of oil extraction
- changes in technology
- fears of post peak decline
- major geopolitical events -> 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill
- conflicts like war
What are some base metals
Copper, lead and zinc
What are some ferrous metals and ferroalloy metals
Iron, and alloys with chromium
What are some non ferrous metals
aluminium
What are some rare earth metals
scandium and yttrium
What are some precious metals
gold, silver and platinum
How is ‘finite nature’ of a resource an issue affecting mineral ores
the more we use, the more they are depleted
How is ‘price volatility’ of a resource an issue affecting mineral ores
the price of the resource fluctuates a lot
What are the rare earth metals
17 elements that are distributed in the earth’s crust randomly, and are used for specific technologies that are hard to find substitute metals
Who is the world’s largest rare earth metal producer
China, by a far amount
What are the issues with mining rare earths
Large use of chemicals to extract, which creates toxic waste
Refining and processing
Things about copper
- 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)
Our example of a globally traded non-ferrous metal
Copper
sources of copper
igneous rocks as hydrothermal deposits, but also in sedimentary rocks
How copper is formed in porphyries
Crystals in cooling magma reduces the amount of solution that copper resided in,
How copper is formed in Strata-bound deposits
Mineral rich solutions infiltrated the layers of sedimentary rocks through cracks and fissures
Copper was then precipitated within the layers of sedimentary rocks
How copper is formed in massive sulfide deposits
Mineral ores are deposited in ‘nodules’ near the hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.
overall changes in production and consumption of copper?
- 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
outline the key importing nations of copper and how this is changing
China and America
In what forms is copper traded in
refined
technology
transport -> cars
raw material
cathodes and anodes
recycled materials
how did the COVID pandemic affect the demand for copper, and how did this affect the price
- demand decreased
- because less people are building and working due to isolation
- so less need
who are some of the key players in the copper industry (TNC’s)
Glen core (1.06 mt)
Coldelco ( 1.9 mt) -> Chile based
what percentage of recycled copper makes up the global trade?
40%
What is a resource curse
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
What are massive sulfide deposits
deposits that sit under water along ocean ridges
what are the 4 A’s of energy security
Availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability
What kinds of sources of energy are there (2)
primary and secondary
what is primary energy
energy that is found in nature that has not undergone a transformation process
what is secondary energy
energy derived from a conversion process
what are some examples of primary energy
coal, oil, gas, hydropower, wood
what are some examples of secondary energy
PV solar, thermal power stations
what are the main categories that demand energy
domestic needs, industry, transport, and services
factors that affect a country’s energy mix
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
How does climate affect energy supplies and quality
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
How does geology affect energy supplies and quality
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
How does drainage systems affect energy supplies and quality
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
@ Athabasca Tar sands: what is being extracted
oil
what is meant by unconventional sources of oil
not feasibly accessible with conventional drilling methods
@ Athabasca Tar sands: how much crude bitumen is estimated to be recoverable
175 billion barrels
@ Athabasca Tar sands: what are the environmental impacts on water and energy use
people think the water has become cancerous, and fish have had increasingly more mutations
@ Athabasca Tar sands: impacts on boreal forest
@ Athabasca Tar sands:
What are some strategies and explain them for reducing energy consumption
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
what are some strategies to increase energy supply
more investment into renewable energy
government subsides
import more energy
energy companies can do more exploration in resource frontiers
what are the reasons for a country increasing its energy supply
what does a healthy energy mix look like
diversity
Supply management strategies (Oil and gas explorations) for increasing
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
Supply management strategies (NUCLEAR) for increasing energy supply
- 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
Supply management strategies (renewable resources) for increasing energy supply
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
Supply management strategies (fracking) for increasing energy supply
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
Explain why acid rain is an international issue.
it is a migrating pollution, for example SE asia faces the consequences of industry pollution from recent industrialisation from China and India
explain how the problem of acid rain is changing spatially and temporally
occurring more often, especially in places downstream wind circulation of industrialising places
discuss some different methods of managing acid rain
place catalytic converters on all cars
burn fossil fuels with lower sulfur content
transition from coal to cleaner sources of energy for electrical generation
what is the enhanced greenhouse effect
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
what causes the greenhouse effect
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
why does the greenhouse effect matter?
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
What are some key concerns over nuclear waste
- 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
How is nuclear waste managed
and and example of WHO
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
If there are so many concerns over nuclear waste, why is it a plausible option for increasing energy supply
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
What are some cons of disposing of nuclear waste
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
five reasons why we need water
drinking and hydration
coolant for industrial processes
agricultural and irrigation
washing and hygiene
hydropower
what are the 3 main sources of water
Surface water supplies
Underground stores
Seawater, after desalination
what are some examples of surface water supplies
rivers and reservoirs
what are some examples of underground stores of water
groundwater aquifers
what are some problems with over pumping ground water
gets contaminated with salt water
the ground above may collapse due to instability
what percentage of the world’s use of water is used in agriculture
70%
what percentage of the world’s use of water is used in domestic
8%
what is water stress and when does it occur and the specific value
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
what kinds of drought are there
agricultural
meteorological
hydrological
how does climate affect water availability/quality
drier climate will have less surface stores -> equator
however areas on each side of the equator will have much more due to atmospheric circulation and often there are rainforests
temperature will affect the amount of evaporation
more cryospheric stores at the poles due to the amount of water held in ice caps
how does geology affect water availability/quality
harder, less permeable rocks will reduce infiltration rates
porous rock will allow more infiltration and lead to more underground water stores
how does drainage affect water availability/quality
more higher density tributaries lead to more water packed drainage systems
mountainous regions will lead to more water due to melting, meaning more discharge
relief rainfall in mountainous areas will lead to more rainfall leading into a drainage basin than another
larger drainage basins will have more water in them
what kind of pressure is associated with rain
low pressure
permeability vs porosity
permeability is how water will pass through the cracks in the rocks
porosity is how a rock will hold the water and store it
at home strategies for saving water
- dual control on flushing toilets
- water buts for watering the garden
- using grey water
- use water meters
how to save water in agriculture
aeroponics -> suspending plants in the air
hydroponics -> submerging plants in water and nutrients
desalination -> turning sea water into potable water
pros of reservoirs for increasing water supply
- lots of opportunity for electricity generation
- can also be used recreationally
cons of reservoirs for increasing water supply
subject to location
- rock must be impermeable, no dry weathers, lots fo rainfall, not prone to disasters
pros of desalination for increasingly water supply
can be providing all year round
isn’t subject to location, just needs a coastline and depends on wealth of the country
cons of desalination for increasingly water supply
very expensive and is often not feasible for a country to spend it on this investment
high usage of chemicals to clean the water e.g. reverse osmosis
large amount of brine (saline water) that needs to be disposed of, and calls for environmental risks of the water
