7.2 Energy resources: Uses and management

Energy sustainability

Meeting our current energy needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, involving a transition to more renewable resources.

Energy security

Ensuring a reliable, resilient, and adequate supply of energy at reasonable prices to avoid economic disruption and maintain citizen well-being.

Energy mix

The specific resource choices and combination of energy sources a country uses to supply its energy needs.

Energy poverty

A lack of adequate access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy to meet basic human needs (e.g., cooking, heating, lighting), heavily affecting human development and food/water security.

Positive feedback loop (Energy Poverty)

A cycle where lower-income populations cannot afford adequate clean energy, hindering human development, education, and work, which in turn maintains low incomes and perpetuates energy poverty.

Peak-shaving

Storing excess energy produced during peak generation times (e.g., from intermittent renewables like wind and solar) to use when natural flows or production stop.

Eco-economic decoupling

The notion of separating economic growth from environmental degradation (e.g., shifting to low-carbon renewables to reduce atmospheric impact while growing the economy).

Fossil fuels

Non-renewable energy sources (coal, oil, natural gas) formed over millions of years from decomposing organic matter; currently provide over 80% of global energy.

Nuclear power

A non-renewable, low-carbon means of electricity production using nuclear fission (typically of uranium-235) to generate heat, steam, and spin turbines.

Geothermal energy

Thermal energy harnessed from the Earth's core, highly effective in volcanic or tectonically active regions (e.g., Iceland).

Pumped hydroelectric storage (PHS)

A large-scale energy storage system where excess energy pumps water to a higher reservoir, which is later released through turbines to generate electricity.

Rare earth elements

A group of 17 chemical elements necessary for high-tech devices, electric vehicle batteries, and the production of wind turbines and solar panels.

Germany energy case study (2022)

Faced energy security challenges following the 2022 Ukraine conflict and Russian natural gas cuts; increased short-term reliance on coal while accelerating long-term renewable goals and moving away from nuclear post-Fukushima (2011).

Environmental justice (Energy)

The ethical issue where millions of people (mainly in the Global South) suffer from energy poverty and toxic biomass pollution, despite contributing least to global climate change.