T3 - Case studies

Question 1

CS-3.1

What is a TNC? Give an example:

Answer 1

-a transnational corporation is a business that operates in foreign countries individually and not through a central headquarters

-BP plc (public limited company), sells oil and gas, worth £87bn

Question 2

CS-3.1

Name some of BP’s global links:

Answer 2

upstream (drilling/extraction)
-Prudhoe Bay/UK/Turkey

midstream (oil refining)
-Rotterdam/Lingen

downstream (selling)
-done everywhere

EXPLAIN WHAT UPSTREAM IS
Rotterdam is in the Netherlands, Lingen is in North Germany

Question 3

CS-3.1

Describe BP’s operations in the North Sea and Prudhoe Bay:

Answer 3

-drilling in Prudhoe Bay’s oil fields (Alaska) helps to support the nearby town Barrow, which has no roads to other settlements (very isolated)

-oil exploration of fields in the North Sea (operating in the UK), invested £10bn in 2017, paying £1.9bn in tax in the UK
-provides jobs for people in the UK (employed 14,000 people in 2020)

Question 4

CS-3.1

Describe some negative impacts of BP’s operations in Prudhoe Bay:

Answer 4

-800 mile Trans-Alaskan Pipeline caused major disruptions

-melts permafrost (microorganisms decompose the material and release greenhouse gases)
-causing potential leaks
-opposition from the local Inuit communities

Permafrost is ground that has stayed frozen for at least 2 years straight

Question 5

CS-3.1

Describe one of BP’s local operations:

Answer 5

-Teesside, NE England

-invested £3 million into a hydrogen “Clean Energy Hub” in order to decarbonise the heavy industry in the area
-will bring new skills to the local community and workforce
-aims to get to 1.5GW

Question 6

CS-3.2

Name an agricultural system in the UK, and its land use and the output that comes from it:

Answer 6

Dyson Farming - commercial, intensive, arable

-strawberries (Red Diamond), potatoes, wheat, peas
-70,000 tonnes per year

They are predominantly arable - Dyson has cow/sheep farms in Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire

Question 7

CS-3.2

Describe the human and physical inputs to Dyson Farming:

Answer 7

-£500 million invested
-29,000 acres of low/flat fenland across Lincolnshire

-previously-drained marshland (fertile/stoneless, good for crops)
-610mm rain annually, 10°C average temp.

Fenland is just a low area of land like a floodplain

Question 8

CS-3.2

Explain why the situation of Dyson Farming is ideal economically:

Answer 8

-near major roads (A46, A1), good for nationwide distribution
-grown in UK, reduced food miles so more sustainable
-near Lincoln for more workers

Question 9

CS-3.2

How are Dyson Farming’s greenhouses heated? What effect does this have?

Answer 9

-anaerobic digesters produce methane (from crop waste) which is burnt to heat the 15-acre greenhouse

-extends growing season and ^crop yield
-decreases food miles

Food miles are decreased as strawberries don’t have to be imported from places like Egypt

Question 10

CS-3.2

Name and describe an area which has had food shortages:

Answer 10

-Darfur, Sudan

-6 famines in the past 30 years
-300,000 deaths from civil war (less farmers)

Question 11

CS-3.2

Describe the reasons for why the regions of Darfur have a food shortage:

Answer 11

N. Darfur - Sahara is spreading into the area, dry wind blows moisture away, Nile is too far to get water

W. Darfur - very short rainy season, risk of desertification

S. Darfur - has some major cities (eg Nyala), civil war has disrupted farming, has one of the largest refugee camps

Question 12

CS-3.3

Give an example of a company with a local factory that operates in the manufacturing industry, and describe their suppliers:

Answer 12

-Toyota

-has a plant in Derby that cost £1bn
-50% of their component suppliers are in the UK, and are required for the assembly of their cars

Question 13

CS-3.3

Explain why the location of the Toyota plant is ideal:

Answer 13

-cheap/flat/greenfield land near Derby + Nottingham for workers (skilled labour from their universities)
-near M1 for easy transport links for goods
-used to be in EU, making it free to export to European market (70% of their cars used to be sold there)
-tax incentives from UK government
-reliable energy supply from National Grid to power 24/7 production

Question 14

CS-3.4

How is Iceland’s tourism industry important to the country?

Answer 14

-45% of the economy is dependent on tourism
-2 million tourists in 2019, compared to 350,000 population

Question 15

CS-3.4

How has Iceland driven the increase in their tourism industry?

Answer 15

-focus shifted to tourism after global financial crisis in 2008
-split transatlantic flight ticket from USA⇄UK (cheaper than direct flight, and also promotes their area)

Question 16

CS-3.4

What features attract tourists to Iceland?

Answer 16

-Blue Lagoon, 80% of tourists visit it (manmade lagoon)

-black sand beaches (Vik)
-glaciers (Langjökull)
-geysers (Strokkur)
-waterfalls (Skógafoss)
-volcanoes (Eyjafjallajökull)

Question 17

CS-3.5

What is the energy balance of the UK?

Answer 17

Gas - 40%
Wind - 26% (when wind is low, gas is used)
Nuclear - 16%
Biofuel - 6%
Imports - 6%
Solar - 4%
Coal - 2%

Question 18

CS-3.5

What is the UK’s strategy for the future of energy supply?

Answer 18

-government wants to increase nuclear up to 25% by 2050
-ambitions to increase solar capacity 5x more by 2035
-increase wind power with Hornsea 1 and 2, largest offshore wind farm in the world
-increased focus on energy security with main plans with North Sea Oil and Gas instead of importing energy

Question 19

CS-3.5

Describe the history and draw the current location of Staythorpe C power station:

Answer 19

-A and B (~1950’s) were both coal powered, and were on the same site
-C was rebuilt in its place in 2010 (brownfield site)
-currently a gas-fired power station

Question 20

CS-3.5

Explain the reasons behind Staythorpe’s location:

Answer 20

-next to Midland Mainline railway (used to transport coal, not anymore though)
-near A46 for road transport of materials
-flat land (floodplain) next to River Trent, easy to build on
-near Nottingham + Newark for workforce

Question 21

CS-3.6

Give an example of a country with a water shortage, and describe it:

Answer 21

-China (1.4 billion)

-has 80% of water in the South, and only 60% of the population can access it (the rest live in the North)

Question 22

CS-3.6

How does China get usable water? What is a consequence of this?

Answer 22

-groundwater extraction from aquifers

-results in ground subsidence over time
-Shanghai has sunk 2.6m since 1920 due to this

Question 23

CS-3.6

Describe the water usage in China:

Answer 23

agricultural - 70%
mining/processing coal - 20% (very water-intensive and most coal reserves are in the North, must be shared with large agricultural industry)

-other 10% is too polluted to be used for anything (even tap water must be boiled before drinking it)

Question 24

CS-3.7

Describe an area where economic development is taking place and posing a threat to the environment:

Answer 24

-Mariana mining site, Rio Doce basin, Brazil

-iron ore mine which held its waste water in the Fundão dam
-the dam collapsed in 2015, causing 60m³ of iron ore tailings to flow into the Atlantic Ocean (through the River Doce)

Question 25

CS-3.7

What are tailings?

Answer 25

dirty water left over from washing iron ore that contains harmful elements like arsenic and lead

Question 26

CS-3.7

What impact did the iron ore tailings have after they leaked from the Fundão dam?

Answer 26

-nearby town of Bento Rodrigues is now uninhabitable
-13 dead and 500 homeless
-downstream settlements are left without water supplies (eg Valadares, pop 300,000)
-water pollution (heavy metals found in river at over 50x the WHO limits)

-damaged ecosystems/habitats

Question 27

CS-3.7

What was the response to the Fundão dam collapse?

Answer 27

-fined $66 million by Brazilian Environment Agency
-sued by Brazilian government for $5 billion in compensation and remediation costs