Resource Security (pixel) Flashcards
Define reserve
Are resources that are available under current market conditions
A significant amount of resources could be known to be present
Define a resource
Any aspect of the natural environment that can be used to meet human needs
Define resource security
The ability of a country to safeguard a reliable and sustainable flow of resources to maintain living standards of its population
Outline some physical risks to resource security
- Global commons (resource frontiers) will be exploited
- Population grows, more resources (water, oil, gas and food) will be used, causing increased GHG emission/pollution (for every 1 barrel of oil we fine, we use 3)
- Industrialising countries increasing their production of fossil fuels and energy intensive industries
What is an example of some of the risks to resource security?
- Overgrazing of land that leads to erosion
- Exceeding fishing quotas that result in food insecurity
- Deforestation has resulted in degraded land, erosion, water, food shortages and climate change
- Illegal hunting of wildlife and subsequent instability in our biodiversity systems
- Illegal mining
Outline some geopolitical risks to resource security - give an examples
Conflicts in Libya and Iraq have hit production in these countries. A further concern might be the diplomatic relations with certain countries
Both Russia and Iran have recent histories of trade embargoes placed on them by Western countries, including oil and gas exports
Climate change concerns and green policies being ignored
Russia’s influence over European countries due to their control of gas exports. Russia has stopped its exports of gas to Ukraine to exert influence over political matters
Cartels controlling the production of commodities to influence the price and maximise profit. In 2016 OPEC members agreed to cut their production of oil to help raise its falling price
Exploration:
Is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery of information or resources
Exploitation:
The act of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from them
Abstraction:
The process of taking water from a ground source
Define Stock - give examples
Resources that can be permanently expended and are non-renewable. Quantity is usually expressed in absolute amounts rather than in rates.
Examples are coal and petroleum deposits
Define Flow - give examples
Resource which is neither renewable nor non-renewable and must be used where it occurs and replenishes itself.
Examples include solar radiation, water, geothermal, biomass, and winds
What is a price risk to resource security?
That resources will go up in price so energy will become unaffordable or that prices will go down, causing thoughts who work in the non-renewable energy industry or countries who are primary product dependent becoming poorer
Renewable
Energy that is collected from renewable resources which are naturally replenished such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat
Non-renewable
A natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a quick enough pace to keep up with consumption. For example, petrol and gas
Critical - Give examples
Resources that require careful management by human society in order to ensure their continuous availability. If they are exploited too intensively to the extent that they can no longer be renewed, then they become stock (non-renewable) resources.
For instance, overfishing can become unsustainable, leading to the fish population no longer being able to reproduce at a rate required to maintain fish stocks into the future
Non-critical: Give examples
These resources have taken millions of years to form and so they are finite (can be exhausted), which is why we call them non-renewable. They are not going to be replenished in the near future. For example, coal or gas is created over millions of years so is not useful on a human timescale. Some stock resources may have their exploitable life extended through recycling such as copper, while others are consumed in a single use
Primary energy
Is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process - such as hydrocarbons
Secondary energy:
Resources that have been converted or stored. For example, the primary energy source, hydrocarbons being turned into petrol for cars
Give 2 positives of oil as a energy source
Oil is readily available in almost all parts of the world
Oil is Used in a Variety of Industries
Give 2 Negatives of oil as a energy source
Monopolised by OPEC
Pollutive
Give 4 positives of gas as a energy source
- Is more environmentally friendly than other fossil fuels because it burns cleaner
- It’s safer and easier to store when compared to other fossil fuels
- Is extremely reliable
- Is not expensive
Give 2 negatives of gas as a energy source
- Natural gas must be handled carefully because it is combustible
- Natural gas is not a renewable energy source so contribute to greenhouse gases emissions and land degradation due to oil spills/oil fields/pipelines
Give 2 positives of coal as a energy source
- It is reliable at producing heat/energy
- Located globally so is not monopolised, making it affordable
Give 3 negatives of coal as a energy source
- Produces tonnes of waste
- Emissions of harmful substances and GHG such as mercury, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide
- Mining results in habitat destruction and human displacement due to abandoned pits
Virtual water
Is the water embodied in the production of food and fiber, non-food commodities and energy
Groundwater
Is the water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through geologic formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers
Recharge
Where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater which replenishes dried up water stores
Conventional oil reserves:
Traditional methods of getting out oil such as oil drilling with large oil rigs which extract oil from large pools. The natural pressure from the well is all it takes to pump this oil to the surface