The Carbon Cycle

Question 1

How reliant is the world on fossil fuels and how does this compare to the UK?

Answer 1

World - 80% reliant.
UK 20% reliant.

Question 2

Describe the USA’s energy mix.

Answer 2

More varied energy mix.
2nd in the world for energy consumption.
3/4 energy from fossil fuels.
More energy secure.

Question 3

Describe France’s energy mix.

Answer 3

Less-varied - relies on nuclear.
10th in the world for energy consumption.
25% energy from fossil fuels.
1/2 of their energy is imported.

Question 4

Describe the Russian case study in relation to gas.

Answer 4

Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania get 100% gas from Russia.
Until 2022, Europe relied on overland Russia gas imports for around 25% of EU gas.
Gazprom (Russian gas company) is beginning to buy into EU supplier and infrastructure.
Russia already turned off Ukraine’s gas during earlier disputes.
Nordstream is the Russian-German pipeline and it’s designed to bypass Ukraine and guarantee EU supply.
Increasingly Gazprom’s gas is from Turkmenistan and elsewhere in Central Asia.

Question 5

What is Gazprom’s role the energy production?

Answer 5

Largest extractor of natural gas in the world.
Produced 513 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2011.
Lots is supplied to Europe.
Aims to restore land damaged by earlier exploration and to protect cultural/archaeological sites.
Greenpeace activists tried to stop drilling in the Barents Sea due to environmental damage but were arrested.

Question 6

What is BP’s role in energy pathways?

Answer 6

5th largest company in the world.
Looks for/refines/distributes its products.
Operates in 80 countries, produces 3.3 million barrels of oil a day and operates 20700 service stations globally.
Employs 10000 people.
Deepwater horizon platform exploded in 2010, killing 11 people and 4.9 million barrels of oil went into the Gulf of Mexico.

Question 7

Where is the Artic and why is it important?

Answer 7

Area in Northeastern Alaska which sustains people, wildlife and fish, designed for wildlife conservation. It’s though that 1/4 of the world’s oil and gas is in the Arctic and Russia/America want to drill these.
Controversial as a lot of harm will come from to the wildlife and culture there.
If goes ahead, 130000 jobs will be created and $30 million in revenue.

Question 8

Why is drilling in the Arctic controversial?

Answer 8

-Threat to wildlife.
-Extraction of vegetation.
-Destroying permafrost.

Question 9

What did tar sands extraction do for Canada?

Answer 9

Made it the top foreign supplier of oil -> US.

Question 10

How much oil is in the Green River Basin (USA)?

Answer 10

3 trillion barrels of oil.

Question 11

How many people does shale gas extraction employ in the US?

Answer 11

2 million Americans who earn over $175 billion in labour income.

Question 12

What does Petrobras aim to do in relation to deepwater oil?

Answer 12

Increase oil production -> 500000 barrels a day.

Question 13

How much nuclear energy does the UK use?

Answer 13

19% of all our electricity.

Question 14

How much of our electricity is wind power?

Answer 14

25%. 2nd biggest user of offshore wind in the world.

Question 15

How much solar power does China use?

Answer 15

World’s biggest solar power producer, produces 100GW of electricity.

Question 16

Describe the biofuels in Brazil case study.

Answer 16

In the 1970s, Brazil widened its energy mix. Now, 4% of energy comes from renewable energy sources. Largest producer of sugar cane - involved in the production of sugar cane ethanol - used in flex-fuel engines (around 90% of vehicles sold new in Brazil).

Question 17

How many indigenous people live in ancient forests worldwide?

Answer 17

150 million.

Question 18

How many people live in the Amazon?

Answer 18

20 million people and 400 different indigenous groups. 55 indigenous populations vanished in the 1st half of the 20th century.

Question 19

How have growing human populations impacted the Amazon basin carbon + water cycles?

Answer 19

As humans add more and more CO2 to the atmosphere, the amazon trees take it in, however when it get chopped down, all the CO2 that was stored there was released. There’s more water sitting on the ground’s surface as soy plants don’t use it, it’s then flushed away into rivers, then oceans. Less water goes back to the atmosphere. Less rain.

Question 20

Why is deforestation in the Amazon such a big issue for carbon balance and tipping points?

Answer 20

If more of it is cut down then we are more likely to reach the tipping point or exceed it as less carbon is being taken in.

Question 21

How can the Amazon be saved?

Answer 21

Stop all deforestation, try to replant. Remove the agricultural lands which surround.

Question 22

What is the UK doing to tackle climate change?

Answer 22

They want to be NET 0 by 2050.
Petrol/deasal cars will not be sold after 2030.
Investigating in CCS and renewable energy.
Signed the Paris agreement.
Hosted COP26.
No longer using coal.

Question 23

What is China doing to tackle climate change?

Answer 23

Carbon neutral by 2060.
Signed the Paris Agreement.
Coal usage has decreased from 69% -> 56%.
Investing in wind and solar power.

Question 24

What is Shell doing to tackle climate change?

Answer 24

Net 0 by 2050.
Reduction of emissions by 15 to 20% by 2030.

Question 25

What is Amazon doing to tackle climate change?

Answer 25

Net 0 by 2040.
$2 billion invested through the climate change pledge fund to Support sustainable tech.

Question 26

Describe the Arctic case study in relation to it being a barometer.

Answer 26

Temperatures have risen by 3-4 degrees in Alaska and Canada, this could double on land and up to 7° over ocean.
Temperature rise is double the world average.
There has been a loss of sea ice.
Permafrost melt releases methane.
Increased uptake of carbon by plants, due to growing and carbon fertilisation.
Loss of ice led to reduced reflectivity, creating a positive feedback loop = more heat trapped.