Topic 9 - Consuming Energy Resources Flashcards
What are the 3 types of energy sources?
- Non-renewable energy
- Renewable energy
- Recyclable energy
What are non-renewable energy sources?
Stock resources that are finite and will eventually run out
What are renewable energy sources?
Flow resources that are constantly being replenished and will therefore never run out, they can be restored
What is recyclable energy sources?
Energy sources that are made from waste products or whose waste products can be used to generate more energy
What are flow resources?
Resources that are constantly being replenished
What are examples of sources of non-renewable energy?
*Fossil Fuels (Coal, Oil, Gas)
What are examples of sources of renewable energy?
- Wind
- HEP (Hydroelectric Power)
- Solar
What are examples of sources of recyclable energy?
- Nuclear Energy
* Biomass
What is Wind energy?
Turbines use the energy of the wind to generate electricity, either on land or out to sea. Turbines are also built in large windfarms where there is high wind levels.
What is Solar energy?
Energy from the sun is used to heat water and solar cookers or generate electricity using photovoltaic cells
What is HEP power?
HEP uses the energy of falling water. Water is trapped behind a dam and is allows to fall through tunnels, where the pressure of the falling water turns turbines to generate electricity.
Why are nuclear energy and biomass classed as recyclable energy?
They have usable waste products
What is nuclear energy?
This uses uranium atoms - when they split they release a lot of heat, which is then used to boil water. The steam turns a turbine, which turns a generator and generates electricity. New breeder reactors can generate more fuel during the splitting process, making nuclear fuel like a renewable energy source. Radioactive waste can also be processed so it can be used to generate more energy.
What is biomass energy?
Biomass can be burnt to release energy or used to produce biofuels. It is easy to produce biomass as living organisms grow very quickly. Sometimes, biomass is available as a waste product from other processes
What is opencast mining?
Surface mining creating large, open pits on the earths surface
How is opencast mining different to underground mining?
Opencast mining involves clearing large areas and digging large pits on the earths surface, this allows larger machinery however it permanently scars the landscape
What are the 4 impacts of opencast mining on the environment?
- Surface mining strips away large areas of soil, rock, and vegetation so that miners can reach the materials they want. This can permanently scar the landscape.
- Habitats are destroyed to make way for mines, e.g. through clearing forests, leading to a loss of biodiversity
- Clearing forests affects the water cycle as there are fewer trees to take up water from the ground. This can lead to increased soil erosion and leaching
- Mining processes can release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, these contribute to global warming
What is oil drilling?
Holes are created in the earths surface, pipes are then passed down and a pump connected to remove oil from under the surface
What are the impacts of oil drilling on the environment?
- Onshore drilling requires land to be stripped of vegetation to make space for the drills and roads to access the sites
- Oil spills can cause major damage to the environment - especially out at sea. Oil can coat the feathers and fur of animals, which reduces their ability to move freely or feed
What was the Deepwater horizon oil spill?
An oil spill in 2010 which leaked around 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico
What is an impact of drilling for natural gas?
Drilling for natural gas from underground reserves can cause methane to leak into the atmosphere, making the greenhouse effect stronger and contributing to global warming
What are the impacts on the environment of HEP?
- HEP plants use dams to trap water for energy production - this creates a reservoir, which floods a large area of land and destroys large areas of forest and habitats
- The river on which the dam is built can be affected by the change in water flow, e.g. sediment is deposited in the reservoir instead of further downstream
- Algal blooms can grow on the stagnant water, this can block sunlight causing fish and plants below to die
What are the environmental impacts of wind turbines?
- Large numbers of wind turbines are required to produce significant amounts of energy and they need to be set quite far apart, as a result they take up large amounts of space.
- Wind farms produce a constant humming noise, some people living close to wind farms have complained about this noise pollution
- The spinning blades on the turbines can kill or injure birds and bats
What are the environmental impacts of solar panels?
- Some solar farms use ground and surface water to clean their solar panels. This can lead to water shortages in arid areas, which disrupts the fragile ecosystem
- The heat reflected from mirrors in solar farms can kill or harm wildlife
- Solar panels built on the ground can disturb and damage habitats
What factors effect access to energy?
- Technology
- Geology
- Accessibility
- Climate
- Landscape
Why did the UK coal industry decline?
- Accessibility declined as more accessible coal is mined
- Decline in coal volumes
- Lower demand for coal due to a switch to green energy as coal is extremely damaging to the environment
- Cheaper to import from abroad than to mine
How does geology and accessibility effect access to energy?
- Geology - fossil fuels are found in sedimentary rocks, where impermeable rocks have trapped the oil and gas in the permeable rocks below. Countries located on plate boundaries may be able to access geothermal energy
- Accessibility - An area might have large energy resources but be unable to access them. For example, permafrost makes it very difficult to access fossil fuels. Some resources are also found in protected areas, e.g. Antarctica and can’t be exploited
Why is the coal in Antarctica not accessible?
The Antarctic ice cover is, on average, 2.5km thick and this means very little of the land is accessible for exploration, so work would have to take place under the ice sheet. The difficult Antarctic conditions, even when technology works elsewhere, make exploration unlikely. once minerals are mined, Antarctica is a long way from world markets, and materials would have to be transported over the treacherous (extremely stormy) Southern Sea. Antarctica is also international land and is a protected area meaning countries are not allowed to exploit the materials.
How can climate affect access to energy?
Areas which receive more sunlight are more likely to be able to use solar power as a large energy source. This is because they receive higher levels of sunlight. However, these areas are often extremely inhospitable and may face many challenges, for example: The Sahara desert receives extremely high levels of sunlight, but it is a desert and is therefore a difficult place to live and the sand may blow on top of and block the sunlight from reaching the solar panels. furthermore, the Sahara desert is in the middle of nowhere and the energy is therefore difficult to transport and reach required areas
How can landscape affect access to energy?
- Wind turbines are most efficient in areas with a steady and reliable source of wind, e.g. on high ground or along the coast.
- Hydroelectric power usually requires lots of water to generate energy, and steep-sided valleys to use as reservoirs
Why does energy use vary throughout the world?
- Development varies throughout the world. Developed countries consume much more energy as people living there have a higher disposable income and can afford the energy. Many people in these countries have access the electricity, heating, and energy-intensive devices such as cars. Developing countries consume less energy as the people living there have a lower disposable income and are less able to afford the energy. Also, less energy is available and lifestyles are less dependent on high energy consumption
- Fuel resources are also unevenly distributed across the globe, this means that some regions have lower access the fuel resources, therefore decreasing their energy consumption. Some countries are also poorly connected.
- Countries may also not be able to afford to exploit their own energy resources
Why has there been a decline in the use of biofuels?
As countries develop, the increased infrastructure and technology allows the extraction and use of other technology (such as fossil fuels and nuclear energy) to become much easier and accessible. Furthermore, other energy sources release much more energy per kg than biofuels, making biofuels relatively inefficient compared to other energy sources
What is energy poverty?
Lacking electricity or the income to pay for it
How does energy poverty affect the lives of people?
- If people cannot afford the pay for electricity or do no have access to it, they must collect it themselves in the form of biofuels such as fuelwood. This can keep women poor as their chances of attending school and then earning an independent income are limited as they must collect firewood
- 2.4 billion people rely on biomass for cooking and heating. This causes healthy people to suffer from lung conditions caused by smoke from traditional cooking stoves
How does technology affect access to energy?
Some countries are not able to exploit their energy as the technology required is unavailable or too expensive. Developed countries can exploit more expensive renewable energy supplies, e.g. solar and wind power, but developing countries often have to rely more on fossil fuels
What are oil reserves?
The amount of recoverable oil - the amount of oil that can be extracted using todays technology
What is oil production?
The process of extracting and refining crude oil
What percent of the worlds oil reserve is in the middle east?
∼50%
What are the issues with drilling for oil in locations such as Ecuador?
- Large loss of rainforests and wildlife. Habitats and biodiversity will be destroyed.
- Very warm and humid climate - making working conditions difficult
What factors influence oil production?
- Oil reserves located in the area
- Infrastructure - in order to produce oil, a country requires the correct equipment and technology
- Domestic Demand - Countries may rely on oil to meet their own energy needs
- Shrinking reserves - oil production may decline in areas as reserves are used up
What is OPEC?
A group of oil producing countries whose aim is to maintain high oil prices by limiting oil supply
Why is global consumption of oil increasing?
- As GDP per capita increases, so does oil consumption. People in wealthier countries have more energy-intensive goods
- rapid industrialisation in emerging countries also increases oil consumption. The combination of growing population a boom in the industry and the expansion of cities leads to a higher consumption of oil
What is the Environmental Kuznets curve?
A graph showing how environmental degradation tend to get worse as modern economic growth occurs until average income reaches a certain point over the course of development and then environmental degradation decreases
