Resource Security - whole topic Flashcards
Define reserve? [1]
Are resources that are available under current market conditions.
A significant amount of resources could be known to be present.
Define a reserve? [1]
Any aspect of the natural environment that can be used to meet human needs.
Define resource security? [1]
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? [3]
Some examples?
- Global commons (resource frontiers) will be exploited.
- Population grows, more resources (water, oil, gas and food) will be used, causing increased GHG emissions/population (for every barrel of oil we fine, we use 3)
- Industrialising countries increasing their production of fossil fuels and energy intensive industries.
E.g
- 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.
Outline some geopolitical risks to resource security - give examples? [6]
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 historians of trade embargoes placed on them by Western countries, including oil and gas exports.
Climate change concerns and greenhouse policies being ignored.
Russia’s influence over EU 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 profits. In 2016 OPEC members agreed to cut their production of oil to help raise its falling price.
Define exploration?
Is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery of information or resources.
Define exploitation?
The act of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from them.
Define Abstraction?
The process of taking water from a ground source.
Define stock - give an example
Resources that can be permanently expended and are non-renewable. Quantity is usually expressed in absolute amounts taher than in rates, Examples are coal and petroleum deposits.
Define floe - give an example
Resource which is neither renewable or non-renweable and must be used where it corrus and replenishes itself. Examples include solar radiation, water, geothermal, biomass, and wind.
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 become poorer.
Define renewable - give an example?
Energy that is collected from renewable resources which are naturally replenished such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, geothermal heat.
Define non-renewable - give an example?
A natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a quick enough pace to keep it up with consumption. For example, petrol and gas.
Define Critical - give an example
Resources that require careful management by human society in order to ensure their continuous availability, If they are exploited 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 quick enough to maintain fish stocks in the future.
Define non-critical - give an example
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 replenish 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.
Define primary energy - give an example
Is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process - such as hydrocarbons.
Defines secondary energy - give an example
Resources that have been converted or stored. For example the primary energy source, hydrocarbons being turned into petrol for cars.
Give two positives and tw negatives of oil energy sources [4]
+
- Oil is readily available in almost all parts of the world.
- Oil is used in a variety of industries
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- Monopolised by OPEC
- Pollutive
Give some positives and negatives of gas energy sources [4]
+
- It is extremely reliable
- It is not expensive
- Environmentally cleaner
- Safer and easier to store
- Natural gases must be handled carefully
- Natural gas is not renewable.
Give some positives and negatives of coat energy sources [4]
+
- It is reliable at producing heat/energy
- Located globally so is not monopolised, making it affordable
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- produces tonnes of waste.
- Emissions of harmful substances and GHG such as mercury.
- Mining results in habitat destruction.
Define virtual water?
Is the water embodied in the production of food and fiber, non-food commodities and energy.
Define groundwater?
is the water found underground in the cracks and spaces the soil, sand and rocks, It is stored in and moves slowly through geological formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers.
Define recharge?
Where water moves downwards from surface water to groundwater which replenishes dried up water stores.
Define 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.
