Geography notes
Fuelwood
• 2.5 billion people rely on fuelwood
• Most important use of wood in Asia
• 1 billion people live without electricity
Advantages:
1. As it derives from wood (trees), it can be found in any country in extreme abundance,
without having to use drilling machines to get it out of the ground
2. It is extremely cheap
3. It is not as damaging as other sources of energy (coal)
4. It is very sustainable as trees can grow back
5. It is perfect for lling the gaps (places where electricity doesn’t arrive)
Disadvantages:
1. Cutting down trees causes deforestation and an increase in CO2
2. High risk of burning down a house
3. Causes in-house pollution
Nuclear
• USA is the biggest nuclear power consumer
• Advantages
• Zero greenhouse gasses emissions
• Reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels
• Energy insecurity may lead to Geopolitical tension
• Not vulnerable to fuel prices uctuations
• Uses uranium
• Large amount
• High level of reliability and e ciency
• Negatives
• Could release radiation in the air
• Radioactive waste storage
• Generates so much heat it corrodes containers
• Causes death to anyone who is directly exposed to it
• Finland and US have plans to build radioactive waste storage
• Terrorist use of nuclear technology
• High cost
• 6.3 billion for a new nuclear power plant
fi ffifl
, • Cancer-causing
Biofuel
• Crops, seeds, wheat and sugar blended with petrol and diesel
• Usa, Brazil and Germany are the biggest producers of biofuel
• Increasing biofuel, reduces the amount of oil needed
• Disadvantages
• More croplands are used to create biofuels
• Adds to the global food crisis
• Large amounts of water and fertilisers are used
• Creation of biofuels uses a lot of energy which emits greenhouse gasses
Biomass
• What is biomass
• Burn objects to create create thermal energy
• Wood
• Garbage
• Crops
• Fuels
• Positives
• Less expensive -> long term
• Carbon neutral
• Less garbage in land lls (it uses garbage)
• Negatives
• Not as e cient as fossil fuels
• It may lead to deforestation
• Toxic (burning plastic)
• cost
• Occupies a lot of space
Solar
• What is solar power
• Captures radiant energy from sunlight and converts it into electricity
• Two ways
• Photovoltaic system - solar panels convert energy directly to electricity
• Concentrating solar power - uses mirror and lenses to focus large area of
sunlight into a small beam and is used as a heat source
ffi fi
, • 300GW of energy collected in 2016
• Positives
• Renewable energy source
• Economic bene ts
• Diverse applications
• Technology development
• Environmental bene ts
• Negatives
• Initial cost - expensive
• Weather dependent
• Energy storage is expensive
• Uses a lot of space
Geothermal
• What is geothermal
• Use of natural heat from the Earth to turn turbines
• Can be in the form of steam, hot water and hot rocks
• Average rise in temperature: 30°C per km
• Near plate boundaries: 80°C
• Main producer: US
• Originally found in Italy
• Used a lot in Iceland for heating houses
• Three types
• Flash system
• Dry steam system
• Most used
• Most convenient
• Binary system
• Advantages
• Renewable
• It’s a cycle
• Small land is required
• Low maintenance cost
• Not dependent on fossil fuel
fi fi
, • Not weather dependent
• Disadvantages
• Only a few places in the world are suitable for geothermal energy gathering
• Digging up into the Earth greenhouse gasses are released
Hydrogen
• Introduction
• Hydrogen is an energy carrier
• Does not produce energy -> stores it
• Can be used in fuel cells
• Works using electrolysis
• Advantages
• Very abundant
• Very reliable
• Low emissions
• More e cient than gasoline
• Disadvantages
• Environmental consequences if fossil fuels are used
• Expensive
• Very dangerous
• Very ammable
• Takes time to obtain
Wind power
• In 2015 the generating capacity of wind reached 400 GW
• China, Usa and Germany are the main producers of wind power
• As long as there is a wind current, wind power can be used
• Advantages
• Low cost -> long term
• Clean form of energy
• Generates generable amounts of energy
• Disadvantages
• Negative impact on property value
• Kills birds
• Visual impact
• Safety issues regarding shipping
• Inconsistent
Hydroelectric
• Generates electricity by the movement of water
fl ffi
Fuelwood
• 2.5 billion people rely on fuelwood
• Most important use of wood in Asia
• 1 billion people live without electricity
Advantages:
1. As it derives from wood (trees), it can be found in any country in extreme abundance,
without having to use drilling machines to get it out of the ground
2. It is extremely cheap
3. It is not as damaging as other sources of energy (coal)
4. It is very sustainable as trees can grow back
5. It is perfect for lling the gaps (places where electricity doesn’t arrive)
Disadvantages:
1. Cutting down trees causes deforestation and an increase in CO2
2. High risk of burning down a house
3. Causes in-house pollution
Nuclear
• USA is the biggest nuclear power consumer
• Advantages
• Zero greenhouse gasses emissions
• Reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels
• Energy insecurity may lead to Geopolitical tension
• Not vulnerable to fuel prices uctuations
• Uses uranium
• Large amount
• High level of reliability and e ciency
• Negatives
• Could release radiation in the air
• Radioactive waste storage
• Generates so much heat it corrodes containers
• Causes death to anyone who is directly exposed to it
• Finland and US have plans to build radioactive waste storage
• Terrorist use of nuclear technology
• High cost
• 6.3 billion for a new nuclear power plant
fi ffifl
, • Cancer-causing
Biofuel
• Crops, seeds, wheat and sugar blended with petrol and diesel
• Usa, Brazil and Germany are the biggest producers of biofuel
• Increasing biofuel, reduces the amount of oil needed
• Disadvantages
• More croplands are used to create biofuels
• Adds to the global food crisis
• Large amounts of water and fertilisers are used
• Creation of biofuels uses a lot of energy which emits greenhouse gasses
Biomass
• What is biomass
• Burn objects to create create thermal energy
• Wood
• Garbage
• Crops
• Fuels
• Positives
• Less expensive -> long term
• Carbon neutral
• Less garbage in land lls (it uses garbage)
• Negatives
• Not as e cient as fossil fuels
• It may lead to deforestation
• Toxic (burning plastic)
• cost
• Occupies a lot of space
Solar
• What is solar power
• Captures radiant energy from sunlight and converts it into electricity
• Two ways
• Photovoltaic system - solar panels convert energy directly to electricity
• Concentrating solar power - uses mirror and lenses to focus large area of
sunlight into a small beam and is used as a heat source
ffi fi
, • 300GW of energy collected in 2016
• Positives
• Renewable energy source
• Economic bene ts
• Diverse applications
• Technology development
• Environmental bene ts
• Negatives
• Initial cost - expensive
• Weather dependent
• Energy storage is expensive
• Uses a lot of space
Geothermal
• What is geothermal
• Use of natural heat from the Earth to turn turbines
• Can be in the form of steam, hot water and hot rocks
• Average rise in temperature: 30°C per km
• Near plate boundaries: 80°C
• Main producer: US
• Originally found in Italy
• Used a lot in Iceland for heating houses
• Three types
• Flash system
• Dry steam system
• Most used
• Most convenient
• Binary system
• Advantages
• Renewable
• It’s a cycle
• Small land is required
• Low maintenance cost
• Not dependent on fossil fuel
fi fi
, • Not weather dependent
• Disadvantages
• Only a few places in the world are suitable for geothermal energy gathering
• Digging up into the Earth greenhouse gasses are released
Hydrogen
• Introduction
• Hydrogen is an energy carrier
• Does not produce energy -> stores it
• Can be used in fuel cells
• Works using electrolysis
• Advantages
• Very abundant
• Very reliable
• Low emissions
• More e cient than gasoline
• Disadvantages
• Environmental consequences if fossil fuels are used
• Expensive
• Very dangerous
• Very ammable
• Takes time to obtain
Wind power
• In 2015 the generating capacity of wind reached 400 GW
• China, Usa and Germany are the main producers of wind power
• As long as there is a wind current, wind power can be used
• Advantages
• Low cost -> long term
• Clean form of energy
• Generates generable amounts of energy
• Disadvantages
• Negative impact on property value
• Kills birds
• Visual impact
• Safety issues regarding shipping
• Inconsistent
Hydroelectric
• Generates electricity by the movement of water
fl ffi
