Energy

• The main types of renewable energy are solar, wind, hydroelectricity, geothermal, tidal, wave, biomass, and biofuels.
• Renewables have the potential to replace fossil fuels as they can be replenished naturally over time.
• Fossil fuels take millions of years to form from organic matter buried deep underground under high pressure and heat.
• 500,000 barrels of oil transferred by Keystone Pipeline per day
• 80% of proven oil reserves in OPEC countries
• 2 million acres of land cleared for Athabasca tar sands
• EROI: Unconventional (tar sands)- 5:1, Conventional- 25:1
• The Great Crosscourse: igneous intrusion with latent heat from magma. Batholith in Eden Project
• Saudi Arabia produces 9.3 million barrels of oil/day
• US imports 8.3 million barrels of oil/day
• 52% of US's imported oil from Canadaa
• Max production from Willow Project: 180,000 barrels/day
• 3.3 million barrels of oil produced by Athabasca tar sands per day
• Tar sands contribute 54 billion canadian dollars to economy
• Energy Mix: Local scale- sustainable, micro-generation (small scale production of power from a "low carbon source") bottom up, NGOs
• Energy Mix at a local scale: solar panels in Kenya due to lack of national grid
• Energy Mix: National Scale- energy mix of an entire country. As a country develops energy mix will change.
• Economic/Political factors affecting global energy mix: volatile oil prices, NICs, environmental degradation, nuclear disaster, role of sustainability, geopolitical instability, depleting reserves.
• Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• British Energy Security Strategy: decarbonisation- energy security and independence.
• Reach 2050 net zero target: Low carbon power, reviving oil and gas, doubling hydrogen.
• Reviving Oil & Gas: North Sea oil and gas fields, fracking, shale gas, tar sands, coal bed methane.
• Low Carbon Power: wind turbines, tidal barrages, wave farms, solar farms, biomass plants, nuclear reactors.
• Traditional Society: Energy supplied by human and animal labour plus fuelwood for cooking and heating. Only rural parts of LICs fit this. Low energy demand.
• Simple Technology: Use wind and water power. Agriculture mechanised. Industries grow using local power. Increased GNI (Gross National Income)-increased energy demand.
• Industrialisation and take-off: Manufacturing grows using more fossil fuels. Society more urban, greater energy demand, GNI rises.
• Maturing Economy: Standard of living increases for most. Power based on fossil fuels. High consumption of electrical goods, individual transport. GNI and energy demand high.
• Advanced economy- status quo: Diminishing reserves of fossil fuels and growing population problems. GNI will cease to rise if there is energy gap between supply and demand.
• Advanced economy- Green energy demand: Energy efficiency and sustainable new technologies. Reduced use of fossil fuels. As energy becomes more efficient, 95% generated by renewables- often locally rather than centrally.
• Energy transition: The shift from one type of energy source to another.
• Renewable energy sources are those that can be replenished naturally over time such as solar, hydroelectricity, geothermal, biomass and tidal.
• OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries): 12 major oil producing countries that aims to coordinate and unify petroleum policies. Est. 1960
• OPEC Aims:

  -Stabilising oil prices.

  -Ensuring fair returns.

  -Balancing supply and demand.

  -Promoting cooperation.
• OPEC Benefits:

  -Price stability.

  -Economic revenue.

  -Influence in global affairs.

  -Capacity to address crises.
• OPEC Limitations:

  -Non-OPEC production.

  -Internal disputes.

  -Price volatility.

  -Dependence on oil.