Energy Resources

Resources Resources: features of

the environment

which are needed and

used by people.

Natural resources: are those

which occur in the air,

water or on land.

Natural resources are divided into 2:

non-renewable

resources and renewable resources.

✓ Raw materials

(minerals and fuels)

✓ Climate

✓ Vegetation

✓ Soils

Non- Renewable Energy (conventional resources)

Finite/ non-sustainable:

• Their exploitation and use will eventually lead to their exhaustion

COAL

• Reserves are likely to last over 300 years

• Improved technology has fastened its mining process

• Improved technology has made its conversion to energy more efficient

• It is used for electricity, heating and making coke.

Advantages

• The most easily accessible deposits have been used up

• Increased competition from other resources has reduced drastically the coal consumption

• Burning of coal causes air pollution (global warming)

• Deep mining is dangerous & open-cast mining harms the environment

• Heavy & bulky to transport

Disadvantages

Coal Production

OIL & NATURAL GAS

• More efficient to burn

• Easier to transport/ distribute

• Less harmful to the environment than coal (gas even cleaner than oil)

• Safer than nuclear energy

Advantages

• Reserves may only last another 50 – 60 years

• New fields are becoming difficult to discover & exploit

• Dangers of spillage (oil), leaks (gas), explosions and fire.

• Burning of oil & gas = nitrogen oxide and Sulphur dioxide = acid rain

• Subject to sudden international price changes

• Vulnerable to political, economic and military pressures

Disadvantages

Extraction of Oil

Nuclear

Throughout history, there have been a lot of debates on nuclear energy.

Several countries including France, Belgium, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan make use of Nuclear Power since they lack enough fossil fuels of their own.

- Even though there are several fears of safety.

Fuelwood

In Africa, women and children walk manykilometers to find enough wood to be able tocook their meals.

This is leading to a lot of trees being removedat a very fast rate in developing regions – inturn leading to several other environmentalimpacts.

Increase in population in Africa = increase indemand for fuel wood = cycle ofenvironmental deprivation.

Cycle of Environmental Deprivation in LEDCs

Population growth = increased

demand for firewood

More trees cut down =

soil exposed

Fewer mature trees = soil erosion =

desertification

People have to walk

further for wood

Even small bushes used = no vegetation

left

Fuelwood

Renewable Energy (non-conventional resources)

Forces of nature which can be used over and over again.

Therefore there are sustainable.

Hydro-Electric Power (HEP)

HEP generates the highest proportion of RE in the world.

There are several countries where HEP accounts for over 80% of their energy consumption:

- Norway

- Brazil

- Paraguay

HEP can be generated by a natural waterfall, building a dam across a valley, or where water flows rapidly down a hillside.

Hydro-Electric Power

• Renewable

• Produced in highland where population is little

• Much cheaper electricity

• Very little pollution

• Dams also reduce the risks of flooding and water shortage

Advantages

• Dams are very expensive to build

• Large areas of farmland/ wildlife habitats may have to be flooded (forcing people and animals to relocate)

• Visual pollution

• Possibility of dam collapsing

• If an area is flooded, the decaying vegetation will release CH4 and CO2 (greenhouse gases)

Disadvantages

HEP – Case Studies (book page 122-123)

Aswan High Dam (Egypt) Itaipu Dam (Brazil)

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal = heat from the Earth.

Heat is stored in magma (moltenrock) below the Earth’s surface.

In volcanic areas, magma is veryclose to the surface so it is easy tocreate geothermal energy:

- Iceland

- New Zealand

- Japan

- Central America

Natural Geothermal Energy

Rain water seeps down throughcracks and cavities in the rock, it iswarmed, and rises back to the Earth’ssurface in the form of geysers, hotsprings or steam.

Man-made Geothermal Energy

How does it work?

Wind

Wind turbines: to be efficient, wind turbines need tobe located in areas with high and regular windspeeds.

Usually located on exposed coasts (off-shore) or inhighland areas, grouped together as ‘wind farms’.

Large wind farms may consist of hundreds of windturbines covering very large areas. The land betweeneach turbine can still be used for agriculture or otherpurposes.

Wind Energy

Advantages• Safe (no radioactive emissions)

• Clean (no chemical emissions)

• Minimal effect on local ecosystems

• Winds stronger in winter = more electricity to heat homes

• Cheap electricity

• Source of income for farmers

• Future of wind farms may be mostly offshore.

Disadvantages• Wind does not blow all the time

• Visual pollution

• Can affect wildlife (especially birds and bats)

• Each turbine is very expensive to build and transport

• Not very efficient (1 nuclear power station = 7000 wind turbines)

• Wind farms are noisy

• Can interrupt radio and TV reception for locals

• Can affect value of property nearby

Solar Energy

Energy from the sun can be usedto generate electricity throughsolar-panels and photo-voltaic(PV) cells.

PV panels can also be used tobuild ‘solar farms’.

Solar Energy

Hydrogen

• Great hope for the future.

• Obtained through water.

• Its only by-product is water vapor.

By 2050, it is hoped that it will replacethe use of oil for transport and heating.

Tidal

• Tides can generate electricity; however,certain schemes are too expensive to buildand have the potential to destroy wildlifehabitats.

Waves

• Waves have the ability togenerate electricity.

• Storm waves have very high-energy levels therefore it’s noteasy to design materials whichcan withstand this high energyfor a long period of time.

Biomass

• Fermenting dung (manure)gives off methane gas whichcan be used in developingcountries instead offuelwood.

• It is cheap energy, but itmeans that the dung cannotbe used as a fertilizer.

• Methane is a greenhouse gasso the process is slightlycontroversial.

Albania, Iceland, Norway, Paraguay = 100% renewable(Albania and Paraguay 100% from hydroelectricity, Iceland72% hydro and 28% geothermal, Norway 97% hydropower).

Trans-Alaskan Oil Pipeline (book page 128-129)

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, 1989(book pages 128-131)

Exxon Valdez disaster - impacts on wildlife -

Exxon Valdez – effects from the oil spill

• Poisoned by eating seaweed (poisoned by the oil)

• Bears’ diet reduced due to fewer salmon (+ local fishing industries impacted – polluted salmon hatcheries)

Land animals

• Die because fur coat gets clogged by oil

Sea otters

• Ducks and geese covered in oil

• Too much oil on beaches, therefore no food available

Birds

• Less plankton to eat (less photosynthesis because the sun was blocked by the oil) = less food for fish

• Shellfish suffocated by oil

Fish

• Whales and dolphins beached or driven elsewhere

• Seals suffocate and sink to sea bed

Sea mammals