The Challenge of Resource Management Flashcards
What is undernourishment?
To provide with insufficient quantity or quality of food to sustain proper health and growth
What is physical water scarcity?
It is the situation where there is not enough water to meet all demands
What is economic water scarcity?
It is where the population cannot afford to use an adequate source of water
What is energy consumption?
it is the amount of energy or power used
What are food miles?
The distance food has travelled from where it was produced to where it is consumed
What is food security?
you have enough food to maintain your health
What is an agribusiness?
large scale industrial/commercial farming
What is water transfer?
When areas of surplus transfer water to areas of deficit
What is ‘grey water’?
Water that isn’t clean enough to drink but can be used for other uses
e.g. industry, agriculture, toilets
What is a Dam (+ reservoir)?
- A dam is a barrier that blocks a river to control the flow so a lake forms behind
- A reservoir is a large lake where water is stored – found behind a dam
What is an energy gap?
the difference between the energy that countries can provide for their citizens (the supply) and how much energy is actually needed (the Demand)
What is an energy mix?
The “energy mix” relates to the different energy sources we use as a country and in what proportions
What is energy security?
It means having a reliable, uninterrupted and affordable supply of energy available
What is energy insecurity?
It means not having a reliable, uninterrupted and affordable supply of energy available
What is a carbon footprint?
How carbon is released into the atmosphere in the process of getting food from its origin to the consumer (not just transport also production)
How does food affect social well being?
- Food is needed for people to survive - having a lack of food can lead to malnourishment so people aren’t healthy so don’t work so have low income, this affects their social well-being
- Having lack of food can increase prices as there will always be demand so people have less money to spend on other needed things
How does food affect economic well being?
- Lack of food can lead to malnourished adults who are less likely to be working or be productive at work
- This means there is less tax for the government and people have less money themselves so there is less investment
What are 2 facts about food (malnutrition)?
- malnutrition is an underlying cause of death of 2.6 million children each year
- nearly half a billion adults in the world are malnourished
How does water affect social well being?
- People need water to survive, grow food, cook and clean
- People spend time collecting water from wells so less school and work so have less income or lower qualifications so poor social well-being
- May also have to buy bottled water which is more expensive so have less income to spend on other things
- Lack of water means there isn’t enough for sanitation so disease spreads more easily which means people are unhealthy so lowers quality of life
How does water affect economic well being?
- Factories rely on water for manufacturing and making goods
- having a lack of water means less industry so lower development and fewer jobs
- Lack of water lowers workers productivity so they work less produce less GDP
- there is less economic development
What are 4 facts about water?
- 3 billion people don’t have access to sanitation
- 1 billion people don’t have access to clean water
- Indian women spend 150 million workdays every year fetching water
- In the UK 75% of our water is used in industry
How does energy affect social well being?
How does energy affect economic well being?
What are 2 facts about energy in households?
- Around 3 billion people cook and heat their homes using solid fuels
- 4.3 million people a year die from the exposure to household air pollution
Where are areas of food scarcity/deficit and areas of food surplus? and why?
Scarcity/deficit:
Surplus:
- Europe
- North America
- Oceania
Why?:
Countries with less extreme climate (have water, light, warmth) and lower relief are able to grow food more
Where are areas of water scarcity/deficit and areas of water surplus? and why?
Scarcity/deficit:
30° North + South - areas of high pressure
Surplus:
Areas of low pressure except where there is economic water scarcity
Why?:
- Physical water scarcity = high pressure areas – so sinking air – so clouds don’t form – so no rain – so no water
- Areas of low pressure – ???????????????
Where are areas of energy scarcity/deficit and areas of water surplus? and why?
Scarcity/deficit:
Surplus:
Wealthy countries
Why?:
- wealthy countries can afford to import energy if they don’t have any in country
- they can afford to access their own energy
- but they need reserves of coal, oil + gas
How well off is the UK in terms of resources?
- The UK has got quite a lot of resources (food, energy, water)
- There are sources of oil, coal, gas and renewable energy in the UK
- There is quite a lot of rain especially in the west of the UK
- The UK produces quite a lot of food
How has the UK’s eating habits changed?
- We eat more high value foods
- We eat less seasonal food
- We eat more organic food
Why has the UK’s eating habits changed?
- globalisation- the UK can trade goods + food can be moved, technology has improved to transport goods
- increased wealth - the UK can afford more expensive food + has improved technology
- education- people want to eat organic food
How does importing food increase the UK’s carbon footprint?
- 11% of carbon emissions from the UK are due to food transportation
- Transportation is often by plane or lorry – this may use fossil fuels to generate energy so this increases carbon emissions so carbon footprint increases
What are the alternatives of importing food?
- use a greenhouse to grow exotic foods/non seasonal foods
- avoid plane moved food - shipped
- stop eating non-seasonal food
food miles in perspective article?
What are the issues of increasingly using locally produced food?
- The energy required in production for out of season food is much higher than importing food from far away foreign countries - as the emissions generated to heat and light greenhouses locally is much higher than transport emissions from importing from abroad (however is good if the locally produced food is in season)
- Loss of jobs in LICs - many countries rely on or are provided with valuable income from food miles - so, by using locally produced food, it can potentially create loss of jobs/income for people in LICs (however this does increase the no. of jobs for farmers in the UK)
- Expensive for consumer - the cost of heating, labour costs and fertilisers have all increased in price in the UK – this makes the food grown here more expensive and can lead to food insecurity - important because of the cost of living crisis
What is a fact about higher energy required in production for out of season food?
- Roughly 83% of food emissions come from production whereas only 11% of it comes from transport/food miles
- Only 4% of CO2 produced comes from transporting food. e.g. in Sweden, locally grown tomatoes produce 3.9kg of CO2 whereas those imported from Spain only produce 0.8kg
What is a fact about loss of jobs in LICs (bc of using locally produced food)?
- Poorer countries like Kenya rely on agriculture for over 1/2 of their trade
- Beans from Kenya are produced in a highly environmentally-friendly manner e.g. nothing is mechanised and they use cow muck as fertiliser
What is a fact about food insecurity (bc of using locally produced food)?
- Food costs are now 30% higher
- In 2024, nearly 10 million adults + children lived in households struggling to afford or access sufficient food
Why is there a trend in the UK towards agribusiness?
- The field size has increased so large scale machinery can be used, which will grow more crops and therefore make more profits
- More chemicals are used so it increases in size + number of yield (however more chemicals end up in rivers)
- Number of workers are falling so costs come down so food is cheaper
What are the features of an agribusiness?
What are the positives of agribusinesses?
- Money generated
- More efficient
- Quicker and cheaper
- Makes more food
- Helps with cost of living crisis
- Farms make more money, pay tax, government makes more money to invest
What are the negatives of agribusinesses?
- less jobs
- more chemicals
- less organic
- loss of ecosystems (bulldozing hedgerows)
- heavy machinery compacts soil so increases flooding
- pollution of rivers from chemicals
- energy intensive
What is an evaluation of agribusinesses?
Generally, the positives of agribusinesses are economic, whereas the negatives of agribusinesses are mainly environmental
How much has the demand for water increased?
The demand for water in the UK has increased by 70% since 1985
Why is demand for water in the UK increasing?
- The population of the UK is increasing – 66 million people live in the UK
- Increased household use – more appliances – household use of water has increased by 70% since 1975
- Population density is increasing
What are the causes of water pollution?
- industry - chemicals
- oil - spills or run off from roads/motorways
- rubbish
- fertilisers + chemicals from farms
What are the impacts of water pollution?
- microbacteria + sewage can spread infectious diseases which can then be caught by fish, animals and humans
- pesticides kill important parts of the ecosystem
- toxic waste in water can be transferred to humans in shellfish or fish that has absorbed toxins and then is eaten by humans
- more fertilisers lead to increased nutrients in water
-if there are nutrients in the water, algae grows quickly over the surface of the water, blocking sunlight for plants in water beneath so they die = eutrophication - fisherman + workers in the tourist industry who rely on clean water suffers the most from a lack of clean water
What is eutrophication?
the process when fertilisers go into water (which makes plants grow)
- so algae grows very quickly over the surface of the water, blocking sunlight for plants + water beneath
- so sunlight cannot get into water, so plants cannot photosynthesise, so die
- bc of less photosynthesis, there is less oxygen in the water, so fish die
What are 3 ways to manage water quality in the UK?
- building better treatment plans and investing in new infrastructure
- green roofs and walls
- legislation
What are the advantages of building better treatment plans and investing in new water infrastructure?
they prevent spills and leakages
What are the disadvantages of building better treatment plans and investing in new water infrastructure?
changes are often expensive and these costs are often put onto the consumer increasing the cost of water
What are the advantages of green roofs and walls?
- buildings often have green roofs – naturally filters out the pollutants in rainwater
- they reduce the risk of flooding by reducing run-off
- they reduce climate change by increasing absorbing of CO2
- they provide habitat
What are the disadvantages of green roofs and walls?
- more expensive than regular roofs
- require more maintenance
- heavier – may require retrofitting to cope with extra load
What are the advantages of (water) legislation?
- UK has strict laws which insures that factories and farms are limited in the amount and type of chemicals they put into rivers
- water companies which provide drinking water and sewage systems have clear regulations and penalties
What are the disadvantages of (water) legislation?
- They have to be enforced – regular checks needed
- fines – may not deter – if changes are more expensive
Where are the areas of surplus water in the UK?
- the west of the UK has the most water
- especially in the west and centre of Scotland
- Wales (mainly the west) has a lot of rain
Where are the areas of deficit water in the UK?
- south-east + east of UK
- the midlands
Why is demand for water in the UK increasing?
- increased population density
- increased population
- increased household usage
What is the case study for a water transfer scheme?
Elan Valley Water Transfer Scheme
Where does the Elan Valley Water Transfer Scheme transfer water from and to where?
Mid Wales in the Elan Valley to Birmingham
Why was the Elan Valley Water Transfer Scheme built?
- It has a deep narrow valley to hold the water in
- so it is easier to build a dam across it
- it has impermeable rock so the water doesn’t leak away
- it has a high annual rainfall of 1830 mm
- the area is higher than Birmingham, so the water can flow using gravity rather than pumps
- Birmingham has an increasing population
What are issues with building Dams? + add a however point
- Dams are expensive – (£6 million for Elan Valley)
- large areas of land is flooded – people are relocated – habits damaged
- affects fish migration
HOWEVER:
- they provide water for people in population
- if using dam for HEP, can produce clean energy
- reservoir = tourism + sport
Generally how has the UK’s energy mix changed over time?
- The supply of electricity fluctuated between 1985 and 2015
- In 1985 coal was the main source used to generate electricity, supplying over 60%
- By 2015, gas had become the number one source used to generate electricity
- The rapid increase in the use of gas having started in 1992
What was the UK’s energy mix like in 1970?
- just under half the energy was from coal
- the rest was mostly oil
- very little, but a bit of gas and nuclear
Why was the UK’s energy mix like this in 1970?
- UK had many coal mines – cheap
- not yet discovered North Sea
- gas technology didn’t exist OR was very expensive
What was the UK’s energy mix like in 2010?
- a larger mix of energy resources
- little bit of coal (less)
- relatively a lot of oil but not too much
- lots of gas (more)
- more but still a small amount of nuclear
- tiny amount of HEP + other renewables
Why was the UK’s energy mix like this in 2010?
- Not reliant on one source
- coal ran out
- coal doesn’t burn cleanly - air pollution
- discovered North Sea gas
- new technology + cheaper renewables
- bit more climate aware – so more renewables
Is the UK’s supply of coal oil and gas running out?
- Oil + gas in North Sea now reduced
- it is estimated that gas will last another 50 years
- coal supplies have also declined
- there is coal left
- BUT in 2015, UK shut its last deep coal mine
- AND in 2024, the UK is to become one of the first countries in the world to ban new coal mines
Why has the use of coal decreased?
- coal was found to have particulate matter in it so was dirtier than other energy
- many coal mines were shut down
What is fracking?
- Fracking uses high-pressure water mixed with chemicals to shatter shale rocks + release natural gas
- The gas is then piped to the surface
- Electricity can be generated from this
- Fracking makes it possible to produce natural gas in shale areas that were once unreachable with conventional technologies
- Horizontal drilling allows for the injection of highly pressurised fracking fluids into the shale area.
- This creates new channels within the rock from which natural gas is extracted at higher than traditional rates.
What are advantages of fracking?
maria sent pic
What are negatives of fracking?
What are economic opportunities of fossil fuels?
- Creation of jobs directly
- in support industries and in the manufacture of equipment
- You can bring more money and jobs into an area – most effective
What are economic challenges of fossil fuels?
- Non-renewable so unsustainable. Eventually, the economic cost will be too high or they’ll run out
- Miners often suffer job related diseases, which incur costs to the health service
- Costs increase to deal with effects of climate change and adaptation to it
What are environmental opportunities of fossil fuels?
Carbon captive storage (CCS) is more efficient but expensive
What are environmental challenges of fossil fuels?
- Carbon dioxide is released which contributes to climate change and acid rain
- Oil spills can devastate wildlife and sea life
- There is visual pollution from coal waste heaps and unsightly opencast coal mines
- Fracking for shale gas can cause groundwater pollution and earthquakes
What are economic opportunities of nuclear power?
- Creates jobs in research and development for new technologies in the nuclear power industry
- After the initial investment, energy generated by nuclear power is seen to be cheaper
What are economic challenges of nuclear power?
- Nuclear plants are expensive to build and decommission, but the raw material (uranium) is cheap as small amounts are used
- Cost to transport and store nuclear waste is high
What are environmental opportunities of nuclear power?
Nuclear power is considered to be cleaner and less polluting than energy generated by fossil fuels
What are environmental challenges of nuclear power?
- Waste remains radioactive for over 100 years and has to be stored safely to avoid contamination
- Despite a good safety record, nuclear accidents release radiation into the atmosphere which has long-term impacts on wildlife and people
What are economic opportunities of renewables?
Many jobs are created in the manufacture of solar panels and wind turbines along with jobs in research and development
What are economic challenges of renewables?
- Renewable energy has high set up costs such as wind turbines, solar farms, hydroelectric dams and tidal power stations. Costs rise further in remote areas
- Biomass means land is not used for food production so may increase the cost of food
- Tourism declines as environments lose their visual appeal, results in job and income loss
- Low profitability is a concern
What are environmental opportunities of renewables?
- They produce much lower carbon emissions
- Land use for sitting wind turbines can also support other uses, such as farming and leisure activities
- Offshore wind turbines can act as an artificial reef, creating habitats for marine wildlife
What are environmental challenges of renewables?
- Many renewables are considered ugly and ruin the views in both the countryside and on the coast
- Wind turbines can affect bird migration and bat life
- HE dams flood land upstream of it, changing the landscape and wildlife. Water held behind it changes temperature, affecting the ecology. Sediment is trapped by the dam.
- Geothermal energy is limited to tectonically active countries like USA + Iceland
- Biomass decreases biodiversity as only one crop is grown
Why is the cost of fossil fuels increasing?
As we extract more and more fossil fuels, we have to dig deeper to access them
Why might fossil fuels become more expensive to buy?
They are unsustainable and finite, so the less we have the more expensive they will be
What do fossil fuels release when they are burnt?
Carbon dioxide - greenhouse gas
How does burning fossil fuels lead to increasing temperatures?
Releases CO2 – a greenhouse gas – increases greenhouse gas layer – traps heat from sun – increasing temperatures
What are the environmental issues of oil spills?
Devastate wildlife and sea life
What is the problem with nuclear waste?
It remains radioactive for 100+ years so has to be stored safely to avoid contamination
Why don’t people want to live by nuclear power stations?
Risk of nuclear disasters – radiation into atmosphere – can damage wildlife and people
Why are the costs of nuclear power so high?
Nuclear plants are expensive to build + decommission + costs to transport + store nuclear waste is high
Why is nuclear powered considered clean?
It is less polluting – doesn’t produce CO2
Why don’t people want to live by windfarms?
Considered ugly – visual pollution
How is gas made?
- It was formed by the decomposition of living organisms deposited on the seabed and buried millions of years ago
- Trapped deep below the ground within shale deposits
- It is extracted and transported
- Primarily to power industry and to generate electricity
What is shale gas and how is it extracted?
It is a form of natural gas found in shale rock and is extracted using the fracking process where rocks are fractured and injected with water and chemicals to extract the gas
In what sectors is gas most commonly used?
Primarily to power industry and to generate electricity
What is a hydrocarbon?
- Hydrocarbons are organic compounds made entirely of hydrogen and carbon atoms
- They are the primary components of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and petroleum
What are the top three countries where gas is found?
Russia, Iran and Qatar
What are positive things about extracting gas?
- natural gas is significantly ‘cleaner’ than coal or oil, with 45% less carbon emissions than coal and 30% less than oil
- It does not create waste (such as coal ash)
- It disperses quickly in the air if there is a leak, whereas oil leaks can be hugely damaging to the environment
- Produces electricity clean cheaply
- Easily transported + distributed by pipeline, direct to users
- Versatile in that it can be used for heating and cooking
- Huge global reserves
- The large workforce requires employing over 1.2 million people worldwide
- Gas is more abundant than other forms of fossil fuels + with shale gas from fracking, the amounts available are increasing
What are negative things about extracting gas?
- Leakages can result in explosions or fires; gas is toxic and harmful to human health
- Greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide + methane) are released, contributing to climate change + global warming
- Fracking is controversial and has been linked to causing some small earthquakes, ground subsidence and water pollution
- It is naturally odourless, so can be undetected unless in odorant is artificially added
- Infrastructure (pipelines) are expensive to construct + maintain + can be environmentally damaging
- Political issues can disrupt transportation, particularly from Russia to the West
Why do we need energy?
What is energy security?
It means having a reliable, uninterrupted and affordable supply of energy available
Where is energy secure? (has an energy surplus)
Generally in Europe, the Middle East, North America and Australia
= HICs
Where is energy insecure? (has an energy defecit)
Generally central and southern Africa and some parts of Southeast Asia
= LICs
What is energy consumption?
How much energy a country uses
Where is the highest energy consumption and why?
- Highest consumption is generally in HICs, particularly larger countries, where many countries use more than 150 million Btu/person/year.
- This is because as wealth increases, so does energy demand, so people have access to more technology that uses energy and car ownership increases, increasing energy consumption, on top of this more people are likely to fly on a regular basis and this uses a lot of energy.
Where is energy consumption fairly high (less than the highest though) and why?
- Consumption is fairly high in NEEs where many countries use more than 25 million Btu/person/year
- This is because the energy infrastructure of NEEs is increasing as countries develop, so they have more access to energy, so the energy consumption is higher. They have a larger industrial sector of factories, so energy is needed to power the factories.
Where is energy consumption the lowest and why?
- Consumption is generally low in LICs, where many countries use less than 5 million Btu/person/year
- This is because most peoples jobs here are subsistence farming so use less energy as the farming is done by hand, without using machinery so decreases energy consumption
Why is global consumption for energy increasing?
- Population growth – global population predicted 10 billion by 2050
- Global economic wealth is increasing – people are coming richer so have more money to spend on things or appliances that use energy e.g. buy cars instead of cycling/public transport
- New technology e.g. dishwashers are used much more frequently, instead of always washing dishes by hand
Where is global energy consumption increasing the most?
- in LICs and NEEs, especially in Africa
- however, in some HICs, energy consumption is actually falling
Where does our energy come from?
- Energy mainly comes from places with fossil fuel reserves
- It is down to geological luck if a country has fossil fuel reserves
- So it is more likely that there will be fossil fuel reserves in larger countries
- They also need the money to exploit/extract them
What 4 factors affect energy security?
- physical factors
- technological factors
- economic factors
- political factors
How do physical factors affect energy security
- Unequal distribution of fossil fuels in the world – some countries have fewer resources than others and some resources are harder to access e.g. Antarctic oil
- Fossil fuels are non-renewable so supplies will run out eventually
- Variations in climate and geography affect the potential for use of solar, wind, HEP, wave and tidal power
- The likelihood of natural disasters that could damage energy infrastructure affects what energy sources can be developed and used
- Harsh climate or mountainous terrain may make it difficult to access resources
- In 2005, hurricane Katrina affected oil production and refining in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil + petrol prices rose. 10 days later production was still only 42% of normal level
- Geothermal heating meets the heating and hot water requirements of approximately 87% of all buildings in Iceland
How do technological factors affect energy security
- Some countries are unable to exploit their energy resources as the technology required is unavailable or too expensive
- Niger has large uranium reserves but does not have the technology to develop nuclear power plants
- Some oil reserves in the USA are trapped in rocks and do not flow freely
- Fracking allows countries to access shale gas sites in their country
- When fossil fuels are difficult to reach, new technology is needed to access it
How do economic factors affect energy security
- The non-renewable energy sources that are left in the world are becoming more difficult to reach, so are more costly to extract
- Prices of fossil fuels such as oil and gas are very volatile – they can vary a great deal due to complex economic and political factors. Countries that rely on energy imports might not always be able to afford them
- Some LICs may have potential energy sources but cannot afford to exploit them
- The cost of building new energy infrastructure (e.g. new nuclear power stations, wind farms, solar powered technology) can be very high
How do political factors affect energy security
- Wars and political instability in countries with large energy reserves can affect their ability to export their resources, e.g. during the Gulf War (1990-1991) exports of oil from the Middle East decreased
- Climate change linked to burning fossil fuels has resulted in international agreements (e.g. the Kyoto protocol) to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions. In some countries this means that they can’t burn fossil fuels as much as they used to
- Concerns over the safety of nuclear power and nuclear waste disposal have resulted in stricter regulations. This means it’s become harder to build nuclear power stations to generate electricity
What are the impacts of energy insecurity?
- Exploration of difficult + environmentally sensitive areas
- Increased use of renewables
- Increased economic costs
- Decrease of food production
- Reduction in industrial output
Why does energy insecurity lead to the exploration of environmentally sensitive areas?
Because countries are desperate for energy so are forced to go into these areas
What are the costs of exploration of environmentally sensitive areas?
(Context: US is considering going into an area called ANWR (in Alaska) as they previously relied on Prudhoe Bay but is running out)
- Oil spills could happen – bad as environmentally sensitive and has 200 species living there
- Major decline in Caribou (deer) – migration pack patterns are disturbed by pipelines
- Denning polar bears are sensitive to industrial activity, so leave dens, so leave their cubs alone – so numbers decrease
What are the benefits of exploration of environmentally sensitive areas?
(Context: US is considering going into an area called ANWR (in Alaska) as they previously relied on Prudhoe Bay but is running out)
- 500,000 jobs available for ANWR
- Only considering exploring 8% of ANWR
- Not importing oil – so cheaper than from importing
Why does energy insecurity lead to increased use of renewables?
Running out of fossil fuel so using other resources – renewables
What are the costs of increased use of renewables?
- Very high set up costs
- Takes up lots of space
- Unaesthetically pleasing – NIMBYism
- Dependent on climate/geography
What are the benefits of increased use of renewables?
- After set up cost, low production costs
- Low greenhouse gas emissions
- Increased energy supply – new energy created – lower dependency on fossil fuels
Why does energy insecurity lead to increased economic costs?
Energy insecure – so imports more energy – which costs more
What are the costs of increased economic costs?
- Vulnerable to fluctuating prices
- Vulnerable to energy being overpriced
- Countries may spend money on extracting fossil fuels from an environmentally sensitive area – more expensive
- Less energy = increased demand = more expensive
- Cost of living increases = lower quality of life
- Could lead to fuel poverty (when energy is more than 10% of household income)
What is a benefit of increased economic costs?
Reduces demand – people are more careful with how they use their energy
Why does energy insecurity lead to decreased food production?
The land that could be used for food production is being used for biofuel
What are the costs of decreased food production?
- rising food prices
- both food + energy prices rise so poorer people really struggle + may become malnourished
- farmers struggle from loss of land
- all of the costs of biofuels (e.g. reduces biodiversity as only 1 crop being farmed)
What are the benefits of decreased food production?
- biofuel reduces energy insecurity
- other benefits of biofuel
Why does energy insecurity lead to reduction in industrial output?
There is energy insecurity so there is not enough energy to support industry
What are the costs of reduced industrial output?
- Leads to a loss of jobs
- Reduces the country’s GDP
- Energy is more expensive to buy – so industrial output increases more
- Price of good rises
What are the benefits of reduced industrial output?
makes people less consumeristic
Why does energy insecurity lead to potential for conflict?
there is a competition for energy
What are the costs of potential for conflict?
- Leads to higher prices
- E.g. in China + the UK, they produce the same amount of goods (steel) but China sells it for cheaper – so leads to unfair competition because people would want to buy the cheaper one
What are the benefits of potential for conflict?
- can end up with a compromise
- e.g. Egypt and Ethiopia share HEP from river Nile
What are 7 renewable energy sources?
- Biomass
- Wind
- Solar
- HEP
- Tidal
- Wave
- Geothermal
What is biomass and how does it work?
Wood – most people in LIC’s main form of energy - biodiesel, ethanol, and methane – from decomposing landfill sites - this is either burned or captured and used
What are advantages of biomass?
- Cheap to produce
- Helps tropical countries to generate its own energy (e.g. Brazil uses biomass)
- Carbon neutral as plants take in CO2 as they grow
- Bioethanol can replace oil in transport
What are disadvantages of biomass?
- deforestation (biggest issue)
- can lead to food insecurity
What is wind power and how does it work?
electricity generated by the power of the wind
What are advantages of wind power?
- Doesn’t produce CO2
- Can be offshore – doesn’t take up space
- Won’t run out – renewable
- No harmful polluting gases are produced
What are disadvantages of wind power?
- takes up a lot of space
- NIMBYism
- noisy + may spoil the view for people living near them
- if there is no wind, there is no electricity.
What is solar power and how does it work?
electricity generated by the power of the sun
What are advantages of solar power?
- Benefits countries along the tropics (many LICs)
- Won’t run out
- Doesn’t release CO2
- After initial set up cost – relatively cheap to run
What are disadvantages of solar power?
- takes up a lot of space
- NIMBYism
- only work in very sunny places
- do not work at night
What is hydro-electric power (HEP) and how does it work?
electricity generated by downward movement of water
What are advantages of HEP?
- doesn’t produce GG
- after initial set up cost, cheap energy
- reservoir can create tourist opportunities
- dams can reduce the risk of flooding
What are disadvantages of HEP?
- Reservoirs take up a lot of space
- NIMBYism
- land is flooded for reservoir
- in tropical countries, reservoirs can increase malaria risk
- Affects fish migration patterns
- Climate change will make rainfall patterns change so decreases reliability and HEP potential
What is tidal power and how does it work?
converts energy from tides into electricity
What are advantages of tidal power?
- doesn’t release CO2
- reliable
What are disadvantages of tidal power?
- negative environmental impacts
- only possible for countries with a coastline
- tidal barrages can affect habitats
- very expensive
What is wave power and how does it work?
generating electricity from the motion of passing waves
What are advantages of wave power?
- doesn’t take up space on land
- doesn’t release CO2
What are disadvantages of wave power?
technology hasn’t been fully developed yet
What is geothermal energy and how does it work?
Thermal energy that is generated and stored in the Earth. It is tapped by drilling holes deep into the earths crust.
What are advantages of geothermal energy?
- Cost-effective
- Reliable
- Sustainable
- Environmentally friendly
- Provides hot water to residential areas
What are disadvantages of geothermal energy?
- only limited to tectonically active areas
- cannot be used in transport
What are fossil fuels and how do they work?
- The remains of living things layered up over millions of years
- Coal – remains of plants
- Oil + gas – remains of sea animals
- Lots of heat and pressure = fossil fuels
What % of global energy comes from fossil fuels?
84%
What are advantages of fossil fuels?
- They are cheap to turn into energy
- They produce large amounts of energy and are reliable (not reliant on the weather)
- They are known technologies so we already have the infrastructure in place to use them
- They can easily be stored and transported so they can be used when they are needed
What are disadvantages of fossil fuels?
- Environmental damage – coal produces particulate matter which is not good for human health
- Climate change – they produce CO2 when they are burnt which is a greenhouse gas – so the GHG layer gets thicker trapping more heat. So climates warm further
- Reserves will run out and become too difficult to extract
What is nuclear energy and how does it work?
- Uranium is the fuel used in a process called nuclear fission
- This process creates lots of heat, which is then used to raise the steam that drives the electric turbines
What are advantages of nuclear energy?
- doesn’t release CO2
- creates jobs in research + development
- 1 kg of nuclear fuel produces millions of times more energy than 1 kg of coal
What are disadvantages of nuclear energy?
- Radioactive waste has to be stored for thousands of years
- Nuclear disasters are extremely serious
- It is very expensive
- It is expensive to decommission
What is sustainability?
- meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
- it must be beneficial socially, economically and environmentally
What is a sustainable energy supply?
- using fossil fuels effectively
- developing renewable energy
- consuming less by being more efficient or conserving energy
- causing less damage to the environment
- being affordable to all (LICs/HICs)
How can individuals reduce the reduce their energy use?
- buy things second hand
- use less public transport
- energy meters
- reduce/ buy less products
- switch off appliances
- buy locally sourced food + goods
- go vegan
- solar panels an roof
ALWAYS END EXPLAINATIONS:
… so less CO2 is emitted
What are carbon footprints?
- they are a measure of the amount of greenhouse gases that an individual produces
- they include direct emissions and indirect emission
What are direct emissions?
those produced from things that we use - e.g. from using appliances, travelling in the car
What are indirect emissions?
those produced making things that we buy e.g. emiss ions created to make our clothes or grow our food
Is energy conservation and energy efficiency the same?
they are not the same, even though people often use them to mean the same thing
What is energy efficiency?
this is the use of manufacturing techniques and technology to produce things that use less energy for the same result
what is energy conservation?
This is the practice that results in less energy being used
what are 12 energy conservation/efficiency at home?
- turn off lights when leaving a room
- Use LED lights
- Switch to energy efficient appliances.
- Unplug devices when not use
- Keep the thermostat at low temperature
- Reduce water consumption.
- Put in loft insulation
- switch to double glazing
- Cook with the lid on.
- Use a smart meter to track usage
- Wash at a cold temperature
- Use solar powered devices
ALWAYS END WITH:
… so you have to use less fossil fuels
How much does insulation reduce the amount of energy you use?
By insulating your home, you can reduce the amount of energy you use by 10%
How can workplaces become sustainable?
- businesses can invest in renewable energies (such as the wind farm at the Nissan car plant in Sunderland).
- Businesses can also look at energy conservation in their buildings by having sensors that detect if people are in rooms and shutting down computers and lights when people are not.
- Businesses can also reduce temperatures in the workplace by lowering the thermostat and use low energy lighting
How can transport become sustainable?
– Electric vehicles do not have to burn fossil fuels. They can be run using renewable energy to create electricity
– investing in public transport so it is more frequent and goes to more places so more people use it and are moved using less energy (Curitiba and rapid bus system in Nigeria).
demand reduction
use of technology to increase efficiency of fossil fuel use
