10a. Using Resources Flashcards
(27 cards)
What are natural resources?
Resources that form without human input, they include anything that comes from the sea, earth and air.
What is an example of a natural product being replaced by a synthetic one?
Rubber is a natural product that can be extracted from the sap of a tree but man made polymers have now been made which can replace rubber in uses such as tires.
What are renewable resources?
Resources that reform at a similar rate or faster than we use them e.g. timber, fresh water and food
What are finite resources?
Resources that aren’t formed quickly enough to be considered replaceable e.g. fossil fuels, nuclear fuels, minerals and metals found in ores
What are the risks of extracting finite resources?
People have to balance the social, economic and environmental effects.
E.g. mining metal ores is good because useful products can be made, provides local people with jobs and brings money into the area. However it is bad for the environment as it uses lots of energy, scars the landscape, produces lots of waste and destroys habitats
What is sustainable development?
An approach to development that takes account of the needs of present society while not damaging the lives of future generations
Why can extracting and processing resources be unsustainable?
Energy can be used often from finite resources and waste produced can be harmful to decompose.
Why are catalysts useful in sustainability?
They reduce the amount of energy required for certain industrial processes so make the processes more sustainable.
How does bioleaching work and why is it used?
Bioleaching is used to extract metals from low grade ores.
1. Bacteria are used to convert copper compounds in the ore into soluble copper compounds, separating the copper from the ore in the process.
2. The leachate (solution produced by the process) contains copper ions that can be extracted.
3. They can be extracted by electrolysis or displacement
How does phytomining work and why is it used?
Phytomining is used to extract metals from low grade ores
1. Plants are grown in soil that contains the metal
2. The metal gradually builds up in the leaves
3. The plants can be harvested, dried and burned in a furnace.
4. The ash contains soluble copper compounds from which copper can be extracted through electrolysis or displacement using scrap iron.
Are phytomining and bioleaching fast or slow?
Slow processes that are less damaging to the environment.
Why is recycling metals important?
Mining and extracting metals takes a lot of energy, most of which comes from burning fossil fuels. Recycling metals uses less energy and conserves the finite amount of each metal on the earth while cutting down on the amount of waste sent to landfill.
How are metals recycled?
By melting them and then casting them into the shape of the new product.
How can glass be recycled?
- Glass bottles can often be reused without reshaping
- Other forms of glass can’t be reused so are recycled instead. Usually the glass is separated by colour and chemical composition before being recycled.
- The glass is crushed and then meted to be reshaped for use in glass products such as bottles or jars.
What are the four stages to be considered in a life cycle assessment?
- Getting the raw materials
- Manufacturing and packaging
- Using the product
- Product disposal
What is a life cycle assessment?
An assessment that looks at every stage of a product’s life to assess the impact it would have on the environment.
What things must be considered at the getting raw materials stage of a life cycle assessment?
- damage to the local environment
- pollution from amount of energy needed
- amount of energy needed
What things must be considered at the manufacturing and packaging stage of a life cycle assessment?
- amount of energy needed
- pollution due to energy use
- harmful fumes due to energy use
- waste products and how to dispose of them
- useful chemicals produced
What things must be considered at the using the product stage of a life cycle assessment?
- damage to environment
- how long a product is used for
- how many uses a product gets
What things must be considered at the product disposal stage of a life cycle assessment?
- pollution of land and water (e.g. from paint)
- energy used
- pollution from energy used
- burning (incinerating) products causing air pollution
What is potable water?
Water than is safe to drink that isn’t pure normally and can contain other dissolved substances. Potable water has a pH between 6.5 and 8.5 and no bacteria or microbes in it.
What are the two ways that water can be collected?
- as surface water
- as ground water
What are the 3 ways water can be treated if more complicated?
- distillation
- desalination
- reverse osmosis
How can basic water be treated?
- Filtration- a wire mesh screens out large twigs etc and then gravel and sand beds filter out any other solid bits
- Sterilisation- the water is sterilised to kill any harmful bacteria or microbes. This can be done using chlorine gas, ozone or ultraviolet light.
