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Summary A2 Environmental Geography Notes FULL NOTES
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A* Standard A2/ A Level geography notes for the Environmental management topic.
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A2 Geography Notes-Unit 12 Environmental Management
12.1 Sustainable Energy Supplies-
A resource is any part of the environment that can be used to meet human needs. An energy resource is
something that can be used for heat, light and power.
Non-renewable energy- has been built up over a very long time and cannot be used without reducing the
available amount, mostly fossil fuels coal, oil gas, also include uranium. Also called finite resource,
Renewable Energy- either have unlimited availability or can be replenished quickly (wood) and are split into
two groups critical which require careful management as they can be used at a faster rate then they can be
replenished e.g. Wood and Bio-mass and non-critical, have unlimited availability they are everlasting we do not
need to worry about the rate of use, tidal, solar and wave.
Examples; Renewable
Wind, Solar, HEP, Tidal, Biomass, Wood.
Examples; Non-renewable
Oil, Natural Gas, Coal.
Most countries use energy in 4 main ways;
Transport, Domestic Use, Industry and
Commerce.
The factors affecting the supply of & demand for energy at the national scale.
Definitions-
National scale - huge variations in energy demand & supply
Demand - primarily determined by the size of a country’s population & its level of economic
development. Large gap in energy demand between richest & poorest Rapid growth in energy
demand in MICs such as China & India. A country’s energy policy can significantly impact the demand
Supply - largely determined by the availability of energy resources within the country; its ability to
harness them; its ability to purchase resources from abroad. Energy use varies from country-to-
country supply is determined by the availability of energy resources within a country its ability to
harness those resources and its ability to purchase and resources from abroad. demand is mostly
influenced by the size of the country’s population and the level of economic development.
Factors Influencing supply;
Physical Factors
• Deposits of fossil fuel are limited in their availability and amount in a country. Geographical
factors for example large scale HEP requires high precipitation, steep sided valleys, and
impermeable rock. Solar needs sun, Wind needs high average wind throughout the year.
Economic Factors
• The most accessible and lowest-cost deposits of fossil fuels are always developed first.
Onshore deposits are cheaper to develop than offshore ones.
, • Potential HEP sites close to major transport routes and existing electricity transmission are
more economical to build than ones in inaccessible locations.
• When energy prices rise significantly companies increase spending on exploration and
development.
• In poor countries Foreign Direct Investment or FDI is often needed for the development of
resources.
Political Factors
• Countries wanting to develop nuclear electricity require permission from the International
Atomic Energy Agency, they may not be allowed.
• International Agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol can have a considerable influence on
the energy decisions of individual countries.
• Potential HEP schemes on “international rivers” may require agreement from the other
countries who share the river.
• Legislation could limit non-renewable generation.
Sustainability
Means being able to meet current energy needs without compromising the abilities of the future to
meet their needs. It also requires we do not do unacceptable damage to the natural environment.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which commits the countries that sign it to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions it assumes global warming exists and manmade greenhouse gas emissions
have caused it. We should maximise our renewable energy and invest in new technology to develop
new renewable sources we should try to reduce the environmental impact of energy, moving from
fossil to renewable.
Levels of development
• Richer countries have more wealth for investment in energy resources thus increasing their
supply. High developed countries also extract energy more efficiently then less developed
ones, they have greater wealth to extract natural resources,
• They also have money to import energy if need be as they are wealthy thus securing supply.
• Demand High income countries use more energy than MICs and LICs. High energy use is
mostly confined to high income countries, and a few oil rich states like Venezuela and Saudi
Arabia.
• Newly industrialised countries like China Brazil and Mexico have rapidly growing energy use.
• The poorest countries in the world are in Sub-Saharan Africa and their energy use is
minimal.
• Why? People in high industrialised countries or high income can afford lots of energy use for
example cars, air conditioning and heating, commercial agriculture and manufacturing also
use high levels of energy increasing the energy use of newly industrialised countries. Poorer
people also use less energy as they do not have luxuries like TV, Gaming etc, less shops.
Resource endowment
• Energy resources are not evenly distributed some countries have many while others have few.
Russia for example has large reserves of oil and gas and China has large reserves of coal.
Australia and Canada both produce significant quantities of uranium.
• Demand; Canada and Scandinavian countries use more energy than other high-income countries
due to heating and lighting during the long cold winters.
, Climate
• Hydroelectric power is best produced in countries with rainy climate and high relief such as
Norway solar power works best in warm sunny climates like southern Spain.
• Denmark has a very windy climate has invested in wind power, Spain has a sunny climate and
uses solar power. Climate also affects demand, Canada and Scandinavian countries use more
energy than other high-income countries due to heating and lighting during the long cold
winters.
World energy prices
• Vary because demand for energy has been growing faster than supply and prices have tended
to increase overtime. E.g. the technology to produce oil from the Tar sands of Canada has
existed for many years but until recently the oil produced was too expensive to trade on the
world markets however in the past 15 years the rise of oil prices has made it possible to
produce crude oil from these vast resources in a profitable way.
Capital
• Most energy resources require a large amount of investment before they can be used.
Finding and developing oil fields is costly, power stations are expensive to build, and the
infrastructure needed for transport the energy from production point to use is expensive to
develop for example oil and gas pipelines and electricity transmission grids. High income
countries have the capital required for these but in middle income countries or low-income
countries they may not thus they need transnational corporations to make investments
losing their freedom of action regarding energy policy.
Technology
• Overtime technology has made the extraction of materials cheaper and easier, early coal
mines were small and shallow because it is difficult to ventilate and drain them, Massive
trucks and draglines used it open caste or strip coal mining but only developed in the 1900s
and this has made it far easier to extract coal and cheaper.
• Science behind nuclear power was only formulated in the 20th century and the related
power station technology did not come available into the late 20th century.
• Demand; for energy is also affected by technological improvement the invention of the
internal combustion engine using petrol and diesel led to great changes in transport
technology moving away from railways and onto roads this reduced demand for coal an
increased demand for petroleum. The cheapness and the popularity of the private car in high
income countries is when the main reasons why demand for oil is high and increasing the
increased domestic use of electrical gadgets central heating and air conditioning also has a
big effect on demand for energy. more recently fracking has monthly increase to viable gas
reserves and gasify the United States and led to large reduction in the price of gas in the
country.
Pollution-
• During the early stages of economic development middle income countries often ignore the
pollution caused in pursuit of economic development, pollution is a price worth paying for
economic growth. As the country becoming rich the quality of life becomes more important
to many people and the clean environment moves up the agenda, for example in the UK the
move from coal fired power stations to gas fired ones was in the 1990s and it was stimulated
by economic factors electricity generated from gas is cheaper than from coal but also
, environmental factors as gas power stations produce far less carbon dioxide for the same
amount of electricity.
Energy policy
• Government can have a big impact on the nature of energy production and used by adopting
energy policies in a capitalist economy energy supplies should be dictated by the market and
the decision of big energy transnational Corporation. However, most governments know
that market in energy is imperfect, So they adopt policies to secure the energy supply and to
ensure the price of energy is not too high for people to afford. National energy policies are
influenced by the principles of supply management and demand management.
Supply management
• Depends on the government ensuring that supplies are sufficient enough to match demand.
At first sight this does not sound like a very sustainable strategy but by influencing the
sources of energy the government can assure that more energy is supplied from sustainable
and renewable sources all my doing this is providing grants for companies that are prepared
to invest in renewables.
Demand management
• Involves decreasing the demand to match limited supply, The UK government estimates 56%
of energy used in the UK could be cut Using-currently available strategies and technologies.
• This is energy conservation using energy more carefully unless wastefully this approach is
not only appropriate for the home but also the workplace and transport by using less
energy, we save money reserves last longer and we reduce our carbon footprint, And other
environmental factors like acid rain on local air pollution are also reduced, this is a big step
in energy sustainability.
• Governments influence the demand for energy by legislation and by tax policy legislation
improves passing laws an example of this is which The UK banned filament light bulbs
meaning people have to use a light saving bulbs cutting their energy use. Tax policy has been
important in making UK cars more energy efficient. cars with low carbon emissions payless
road tax. grants were also made available people who made their homes more energy
efficient by using loft insulation.
Energy security
• This is defined as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at a price that people and
industry can afford long term energy security there has been ensuring the future supply of
energy is in line with future economic development and environmental needs. Short time
energy security is the ability of national energy system to react promptly to sudden changes
in demand.
• To provide solid economic growth and to maintain levels of economic performers a
countries energy must be readily available affordable and with the capacity in the system to
overcome potential shortages.
• As a result, even in market economies, national government offer pad to interfere with the
engine market to ensure future supplies. in the past some countries have been prepared to
go to war to secure their energies applied e.g. Japan in 1941 In the USA in 1992.
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