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Question 1

2. What factors does the choice of energy source for a given situation depend upon?

Answer 1

• economic

- environmental

Question 2

2. What are examples of how economic factors affect the choice of energy source?

Answer 2

Running costs (for non-renewable)
Setup costs (for renewable)
Engineering costs (nuclear, hydroelectric, and geothermal)

Question 3

2. What are examples of how environmental factors affect the choice of energy source?

Answer 3

Visual pollution (all)
Noise pollution (non-renewable, wind)
Disruption of habitats (wave, tidal, biofuels)
Disruption of leisure activities (wave, tidal)
Waste produced (non-renewable)
Carbon dioxide emissions (coal, oil, gas)

Question 4

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages for renewable energy sources?

Answer 4

• won’t run out
• less damaging to the environment
• provide less energy
• (unreliable as depend on weather)

Question 5

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages for non-renewable energy sources?

Answer 5

• will run out
• all damage environment
• currently provide most of our energy

Question 6

4. What are the different types of energy sources?

Answer 6

• fossil fuels
• nuclear
• solar power
• geothermal
• biofuel
• wind
• hydroelectricity
• wave
• tidal

Question 7

4. What are examples of fossil fuels?

Answer 7

-oil, natural gas, coal

Question 8

4. How is energy made via fossil fuels?

Answer 8

• fossil fuels are burnt to create heat energy
• heat energy turns water into steam
• steam turns turbine
• generator converts kinetic energy of turbine into electricity

Question 9

4. What are the advantages of using fossil fuels?

Answer 9

• produce a lot of energy
• quite cheap
• do not have to rely on weather (more reliable)
• lots of fossil fuel power stations already
• don’t need to build new ones (money)

Question 10

4. What are the disadvantages of using fossil fuels?

Answer 10

• burning releases CO2 into the atmosphere
• contributes to global warming and climate change
• burning releases sulphur dioxide
• acid rain= harm trees and soils
• coal mining looks bad
• oil spillages harm wildlife

Question 11

4. What are examples of nuclear energy?

Answer 11

-uranium, plutonium

Question 12

4. How is energy made via nuclear?

Answer 12

• energy is released from nuclear fuel (uranium) by nuclear fission
• heat energy turns water into steam
• steam turns turbine
• generator converts kinetic energy of turbine into electricity

Question 13

4. What are the advantages of using nuclear energy?

Answer 13

• nuclear reactions release a lot of energy
• doesn’t directly produce CO2
• nuclear fuel (uranium) is quite cheap

Question 14

4. What are the disadvantages of using nuclear energy?

Answer 14

-radioactive waste
ionising
hard to dispose of
-extra safety precautions are needed
(check for contamination in workers/ surrounding water and land)
-high overall cost (to build and decommission)

Question 15

4. What is solar energy useful for?

Answer 15

• on small scales

- calculators

Question 16

4. Where is solar energy suitable?

Answer 16

-in remote, sunny places (where they cant use national grid)

Question 17

4. How is energy made via solar power?

Answer 17

-solar cells generate electric currents directly from sunlight

Question 18

4. What are the advantages of using solar power?

Answer 18

• no fuel and minimum running costs
• no pollution apart from in manufacturing
• reliable when sunny (daytime)

Question 19

4. What are the disadvantages of using solar power?

Answer 19

• large initial cost
• costs a lot to connect them to the National Grid
• not cost effective in cloudy countries

Question 20

4. Where is geothermal energy suitable?

Answer 20

-where hot rocks lie near surface

Question 21

4. How is energy made via geothermal energy sources?

Answer 21

Geothermal energy is used to drive thermal power stations
-water is pumped in pipes down to hot rocks= returns as steam
= turns turbine
=generator converts kinetic energy of turbine into electricity

Question 22

4. What are the advantages of using geothermal energy sources?

Answer 22

• free source
• renewable
• very few environmental issues

Question 23

4. What are the disadvantages of using geothermal energy sources?

Answer 23

• is expensive to drill down to hot rocks

- few places where it is an option

Question 24

4. What are examples of biofuels?

Answer 24

-woodchips, ethanol, methane biogas

plants and waste

Question 25

4. Where is using biofuels suitable?

Answer 25

-where there is enough space

Question 26

4. What can biofuels be used for?

Answer 26

-cars

Question 27

4. How is energy made via biofuels?

Answer 27

-biofuels are burnt= heats water=steam =steam turns turbine =turbines turn generator= generator converts kinetic energy of turbine into electricity

Question 28

4. What are the advantages of using biofuels?

Answer 28

- carbon neutral (carbon from burning taken in in photosynthesis) - renewable as long as you replant

Question 29

4. What are the disadvantages of using biofuels?

Answer 29

-forests have to be cleared to make room to grow biofuels =habitats destroyed =burning and decay of vegetation increases CO2 and methane production

Question 30

4. Where is wind energy suitable?

Answer 30

-windy exposed places like on moors or round coasts

Question 31

4. How is energy made via wind?

Answer 31

-wind turbines are turned by wind, which directly turns generator =generator in turbine converts kinetic energy of turbine into electricity

Question 32

4. What are the advantages of using wind?

Answer 32

- no pollution apart from in manufacturing - no permanent damage to landscape - no fuel and minimum running costs

Question 33

4. What are the disadvantages of using wind?

Answer 33

-don’t look very nice -you need a lot to get enough energy -large initial cost -can be noisy -no power when wind stops So can’t increase supply when there is demand

Question 34

4. Where is hydroelectricity suitable?

Answer 34

-preferably remote valleys to reduce human impact

Question 35

4. How is energy made via hydroelectricity?

Answer 35

-water is stored in a reservoir above turbines using a dam=gravity causes water to rush down =turns turbines directly =generator converts kinetic energy of turbine into electricity

Question 36

4. What are the advantages of using hydroelectricity?

Answer 36

- no direct pollution - can quickly produce it to cope with increased demand - no fuel and minimum running costs - reliable unless in drought

Question 37

4. What are the disadvantages of using hydroelectricity?

Answer 37

- flooding valley= impact on the environment - species lose habitat - look unsightly - large initial cost

Question 38

4. Where is wave power suitable?

Answer 38

- around the coast | - small scale (small islands)

Question 39

4. How is energy made via wave power?

Answer 39

- waves provide an up and down motion as they come up the shore - this can directly drive turbine - generator converts kinetic energy of turbine into electricity

Question 40

4. What are the advantages of using wave power?

Answer 40

- no fuel - minimum running costs - no pollution

Question 41

4. What are the disadvantages of using wave power?

Answer 41

-large initial cost -don’t look very nice -hazard to boats -unreliable (stop when wind drops) -can’t provide enough energy on a large scale

Question 42

4. How is energy made via tidal?

Answer 42

- big dams built along river estuaries - when tide comes in it fills the estuary= drives turbines - can also go through turbines at controlled speed= drives turbines - turbines turn generator= generator converts kinetic energy of turbine into electricity

Question 43

4. What are the advantages of using tidal?

Answer 43

- no fuel and minimum running costs - no pollution - quite reliable (tides twice a day) - good at storing energy for when in demand - has the potential to supply lots of energy

Question 44

4. What are the disadvantages of using tidal?

Answer 44

- large initial cost - don’t look very nice - tides aren’t exactly the same so not completely reliable - boats can’t access freely - changes habitats of wildlife - can’t be implemented in many places

Question 45

5. How can we ensure a security of electricity supply nationally?

Answer 45

-we need a mix of energy sources