3.1 - Issues with energy supply

Environmental
1. Fossil fuels are not renewable - finite
2. Earth's reserves unknown to an extent
  1. We may have passed peak oil production
3. Demands for oil continue to rise - despite attempts to reduce + be sustainable
4. Europe + N. America's demands continue to rise
  1. China + India both becoming industrialised - each pop exceeds 1 billion
    1. Much higher fossil fuel usage
      1. China demand grows 10%/yr
5. New oil fields
  1. Recent new discoveries - Brazil to Sierra Leone
    1. Whole new oil basin - 1000 km from coast of Ghana to Sierra Leone
      1. 1 billion barrels of oil??
6. Other fuel options:
  1. Methane hydrates - crystallised gas
    1. Large deposits under Gulf of Mexico
  2. Tar sands - large Canadian deposits
    1. Expensive to purify
      1. Companies invested nearly £50bn
    2. Devastating eco impacts
      1. Thousands of kilometres of toxic waste ponds
      2. 300ft deep mines
      3. Hundreds of miles of pipeline
  3. Coal gasification
    1. Converting coal into combustible gas
Economic
1. BP
  1. BP largest UK-owned TNC - 100,000 employees - 100 countries
  2. Annual income 2006 - $26,172 million
  3. 2005 - produce 4 million barrels/ day - current reserves = 18.3 billion barrels
  4. Has pipelines and ships to transport oil across world
  5. 17 refineries worldwide - each with processing power of 2.8 million barrels/ day
  6. 2nd largest fuel retailer in US
Technological
1. Solar
  1. Total human power needs predicted - 16 terawatts
    1. 20 terawatts by 2020
  2. Sunshine on solid Earth = 120 terawatts - virtually unlimited
  3. Large focus on solar in '70s
    1. Rise in oil prices in Iraq war (1980's) led to decrease in research for solar and new focus on computer microprocessors
  4. Hope that recent climate issues brings back solar research
  5. US, Germany, Spain - current leaders in solar market
    1. Exciting prospects for hot African and middle-eastern countries
      1. Saharan Forest Project
2. Photosynthesis
  1. Research into how leaves use sunlight to make useful molecules
3. Wind - China
  1. Heavy investing into wind farms
  2. Demand for energy growing rapidly = energy security issues
    1. 2040 - Chinese will be emitting 3.5bn tonnes of carbon - 0.8bn tonnes in 2000
  3. Keen on renewables
    1. 4th largest wind turbine market
    2. Installed capacity doubled to 12,000 MW
      1. Growth rate 3x rest of world
  4. Special turbines in Mongolia - globalisation
    1. Small turbine - large blade
  5. Advantages
    1. Virtually free + infinite
    2. Prevents emissions of 4,000 tonnes of CO2
  6. Disadvantages
    1. Cannot provide enough energy to replace fossil fuels globally
    2. Small energy - large damage to landscape
4. Lithium - Bolivia
  1. Half of the world's supply of Lithium lies beneath Bolivia salt flats
    1. 5.4 million tonnes
  2. Used to make batteries in electric cars
  3. Is the key to the tech some believe will make clean electricity a reality
5. Nuclear - UK
  1. Quick way to meet national 'energy gap'
  2. Nuclear doesn't significantly contribute to global warming
  3. Issues?
    1. Disposal
      1. Radioactive material remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years
    2. Cost
      1. 2.3 million cubic metres put in temporary storage
        Predicted £85 billion cost
    3. Danger
      1. Chernobyl, Ukraine
        Cancers and child disabilities
Political
1. Europe
  1. Energy security worries
    1. Interrupted supplies from Russia 2006 - Dependent on other countries
      1. EU politicians argue diversification is needed
  2. Drive for self sufficiency = more wind farms, greater investment in biofuels and possible return of nuclear power
2. US
  1. Speculations of US foreign policy in Middle-East related to Us reliance on oil supplies
  2. Further theories Obama maintaining influence in middle-east to safeguard supply - esp since China demand from ME rising
3. China
  1. 2009 - announcement China seeking greater stakes in African oil
    1. Bid to gain control over 1/6 of Nigerian oil reserves
  2. Angola + Sudan already suppliers
    1. Oct 2009 - billion dollar negotiations in Guinea
      1. Human rights concerned - Guinean army recently massacred civilian protesters
        Concerns of Chinese govt propping up corrupt African govts

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3.1 - Issues with energy supply

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