IB ESS Unit 7

renewable

natural resources that have a sustainable yield or harvest equal to, or less than, their natural productivity, can be used over and over again

Examples of renewable resources

▫Hydroelectric, biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and wave power

Non-renewable

•natural resources that cannot be replenished within a timescale of the same order as that at which they are taken from the environment and used

Examples of non-renewable energy sources

Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), nuclear fuel

where is energy consumption highest

•Energy consumption has been traditionally higher in MEDCs due to availability of energy sources and economies that are energy intensive.

how does energy consumption increase in LEDCs

As LEDCs industrialize, the energy consumption increases

advantages of oil

cheap, easy to transport, production and consumption reserves will last 40 years

disadvantages of oil

oil slicks from tankers and drilling rigs, water pollution, damage to coastal communities, target oil wells during wars, burning of oil contributes to global warming through the release of CO2

advantages of coal

Key for western industrial development, Thick, level, continuous seams of coal are valuable, Coal is important in the chemicals industry for making a range of products - aspirin to nylon, Coal is used to manufacture iron and steel (coking coal), Coal is used to generate electricity (steam coal)

disadvantages of coal

Dirty, bulky, costly and difficult to transport

Open-cast mining causes serious visual and noise pollution

Burning of coal contributes to acid rain and to global warming

advantages of nuclear power

9% of energy, does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions

disadvantages of nuclear power

Nuclear power stations are very expensive to build

Decommissioning costs of obsolete nuclear power stations is enormous

Serious risks to radiation when disasters like Fukushima or Chernobyl

Nuclear waste cannot be recycled or used again and causes storage problems

advantages of hydroelectric power

Renewable energy that harnesses fast-flowing water

Does not emit greenhouse gases (although many are released during the construction of the dam)

HEP stations are often associated with aluminum smelters to use up excess energy

Disadvantages of hydroelectric power

HEP plants are costly to build

Only a small number of places have a sufficient head of water

Migratory fish and mammals have their routes affected

Increased evaporation behind the dam and deposition of silt

Fish yields downstream can be adversely affected by trapping sediments behind the dam

Biodiversity is changed in the riparian community

advantages of solar power

No finite resources are involved

Less environmental damage

No atmospheric pollution

Abundant and infinite energy from the Sun

disadvantages of solar power

It is affected by cloud, seasons, day length so it cannot be guaranteed to work in all locations

Not always possible where demand exists

High cost - each unit of electricity generated by solar energy costs between four and ten times as much as that derived from fossil fuels

Does not make a significant contribution to energy efficiency at present

advantages of wind power

Suitable for small-scale production

Need locations where wind is strong and reliable like exposed hillside or close to coast

No pollution of air, ground or water

No finite resources are involved

disadvantages of wind power

Visual impact due to appearance of wind turbines

Noisy

Can injure migrating birds

Winds may be unreliable

High cost of large-scale development

Suitable locations are distant from centers of demand

advantages of tidal power

Renewable, clean energy source

Requires a funnel-shaped estuary, free of other developments with a large tidal range

River Rance in Brittany, France and the Bay of Fundy, Canada are good examples

disadvantages of tidal power

High cost of development

Limited number of suitable sites

Environmental damage to estuarine sites

Long period of development

Possible effects on ports and industries upstream

advantages of fuelwood

Use of trees and vegetation for energy source is renewable

Important source of energy in rural Africa - 90% of energy in Tanzania and 50% of energy in Zimbabwe

disadvantages of fuelwood

Fuelwood availability is decreasing fast

More travel for collection of fuelwood as it becomes scarce

Contributes to global warming through the release of CO2

Trees are a multi-purpose resource so burning puts pressure on other industries

energy security

•Having an adequate, reliable and affordable supply of energy

what provides countries with a degree of independence

•Uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price that provides countries with a degree of independence

energy choices are based on

availability and reliability of supply, sustainability and efficiency of supply, cost of production, type of market, political choices, demand for energy, population growth, economic growth, stage of development, climate factors

low levels of per capita energy consumption is explained by

▫Lack of suitable resources

▫Lack of economic development

▫Rapid growth in population (demand exceeds supply)

▫Lack of capital to develop alternative forms of energy

▫Debt

▫Lack of technological resources

▫Lack of trust, especially with nuclear power

▫Lack of fuelwood

energy efficiency

•The attempts to improve products and services so that less energy is required for them to function

examples of energy efficient things

led lightbulbs and energy efficient appliances

energy conservation

•The efforts to reduce energy consumption

examples of energy conservation

▫Wearing an extra coat instead of turning up the heat

▫South-facing windows

▫Double-glazed windows

▫Wall insulation

▫Switching off lights when not in room

climate

the average and extreme weather conditions over a period not longer than 30 years

features of climate

temperature, rainfall, humidity, cloud cover, wind speed and direction, and air pressure

weather

the state of the atmosphere at any instant

features of weather

temperature, rainfall, humidity, cloud cover, wind speed and direction and air pressure

what accounts for heat transfer

•Ocean currents account for 80% of global transfer of heat from low to high latitudes

•Winds account for 20% of heat transfer

greenhouse effect

normal and neccessary for life on earth, •a natural process that traps some outgoing long-wave radiation and enables life on Earth

greenhouse gases

▫Allow incoming short-wave radiation to pass through the atmosphere and heat up the Earth's surface

▫Traps out-going long-wave radation so it heats up the atmosphere

global warming

•enhanced greenhouse effect

▫A higher amount of greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere and trap more long-wave radiation resulting in the warming of the atmosphere beyond normal limits

examples of greenhouse gases

▫Water

▫Carbon dioxide

▫Methane

▫CFC

▫Ozone

Oxides of nitrogen

water vapour

▫Has greatest effect on trapping heat energy

▫Varies due to state changes in different climates

carbon dioxide

▫Produced when burning fossil fuels, vehicle emissions, deforestation and burning forests

▫Naturally produced from volcanic vents, decomposition of organic material, respiration

▫Increased 3.1% per year between 2000 and 2006

methane

▫Released from decaying plant and animal remains, from farms (cattle and rice paddies), swamps, peat bogs and landfill sites

Chlorofluorocarbons

▫Absorb long-wave radiation

▫From refrigerants, aerosols, foam packaging, and air conditioners

oxides of nitrogen

▫Nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide

▫From power stations, vehicle emissions, fertilizers and burning biomass

▫Catalytic converters decrease release from cars

ozone

▫Found in troposphere is bad

▫Secondary pollutant from vehicle and power plant emissions

top polluters of carbon dioxide

•China and USA are top polluters of CO2

•China rapidly increasing due to industrialized

India, Russia and Japan are in the top 5

impacts of climate change

biomes shifting, change in location of crop-growing areas, changed weather patterns, coastal innundation, human health

coastal inundation

•Flooding will occur due to thermal expansion of water and melting of glaciers and ice caps, leading to sea level rise

impacts of coastal inundation

▫Increased coastal erosion

▫Intrusion of salty water

▫Reduction of mangrove forests

▫Coral reefs unable to obtain sufficient light

▫Wading birds struggling to find food

▫Contamination of soils and a decline in agricultural production

impact on human health

•An increase in stagnant water, meaning more mosquitos that carry disease

•People forced to leave their homes and becoming more susceptible to diseases

•Changes in distributions of organisms, bringing new diseases to areas

•Saltwater intrusion onto coastal agricultural land, meaning a reduction in food production and hunger and malnutrition

changes in weather patterns

•An increase in temperatures of around 2 degrees Celsius

•Changes in prevailing winds

•Changes in precipitation

•Continental areas becoming drier

feedback loops

•Feedback occurs when some of the output of a system returns as an input, exerting some control in the process

negative feedback

damps down, neutralizes or counteracts deviation from an equilibrium

positive feedback

increases change and leads to exponential deviation from the equilibrium

positive feedback and climate

▫Increased thawing of permafrost results in increased methane levels which increases mean global temperature

▫

▫Melting Arctic ice results in more open ocean which is darker and absorbs more heat from sun which causes more ice melting (positive ice albedo effect)

natural causes of climate change

▫Variations in tilt of Earth's axis

▫Variations in Earth's orbit around Sun

▫Variations in solar output

▫Dust in atmosphere due to volcanoes

what links humans to global warming

•Rapid rate of CO2 in atmosphere links humans to global warming

global dimming

•A worldwide decline of the intensity of the sunlight reaching the Earth's surface caused by particulate air pollution and natural events (volcanic ash)

•By cleaning up air pollution, climate change is accelerating

•More sites for water to bind on particulates in the air result in higher reflection of sunlight

mitigation

attempts to reduce the causes of climate change, reduction and/or stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions and their removal from the atmosphere

adaptation

attempts to manage the impacts of climate change, •Can be used to reduce adverse affects and maximize any positive effects

mitigation to reduce greenhouse gases

•Reduction of energy consumption through public transport and energy conservation measures

•Reduction of emissions of oxides of nitrogen and methane from agriculture by using less fertilizers and consuming more vegetables

•Using alternatives to fossil fuels like HEP or solar energy

•Geo-engineering such as CO2 capture from air, cloud seeding, space-based reflectors

mitigation to reduce co2 emissions

•Introducing carbon taxes to make the use of fossil fuels more expensive relative to other forms of energy

•Carbon trading to manage the amount of carbon dioxide released by different industries

•Carbon offset schemes to reduce the overall impact of carbon emissions by investing in projects that cut emissions elsewhere

mitigation for co2 removal

•Conserving, protecting and enhancing carbon sinks through land management

•Using biomass as a fuel source

•Using carbon capture from atmosphere and storage underground

•Enhancing carbon dioxide absorption by oceans through fertilizing the oceans or increasing upwellings

strategies for adaptation

▫Flood defenses

▫Vaccination programs

▫Desalination plants

▫Planting crops in new environments

what counties have more resources for adaptation

MEDCs

IPCC•Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

▫Believes that carbon capture and storage are extremely important

•National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPA)

▫A list of ranked priority adaptation activities and projects

kyoto protocol 1997

▫Set legally binding targets to cut emissions for all MEDCs

EU by 8%

Japan by 7%

USA by 6%

ways to keep to the kyoto target without cutting emissions

Install clean technology in other countries and claim carbon credits for self

Buy carbon credits from countries where national carbon limits are underused

Plant forests to absorb carbon or change agricultural practices

paris conference 2015

▫Global agreement on the reduction of climate change

▫Limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels

▫Zero net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions between 2050 and 2100

▫No country specific goals

▫No mechanism to force a country to set a target or penalize non-compilance

Individual Methods to reduce GHGs

•Use public transport

•Walk or ride a bike for local trips

•Turn off lights when leaving a room

•Reduce the use of heating and air conditioning

•Eat locally produced food