P1 Bio-fuels and Non-renewables (page 176)

Question 1

What are Bio-fuels?

Answer 1

They are renewable energy resources created from either plant products or animal dung (dried animal feices). They can be solid, liquid or gas, and can be burnt to produce electricity, or run cars the same way as fossil fuels.

Question 2

Are Bio-fuels carbon neutral?

Answer 2

Yes, but there is some debate about this as it’s only really true if you keep growing plants at the rate that you’re burning things.

Question 3

Are Bio-fuels reliable, and why?

Answer 3

Yes, fairly reliable, as crops take a relatively short time to grow and different crops can be grown all year round.

Question 4

Can Bio-fuels respond to immediate energy demands?

Answer 4

No, (to combat this, bio-fuels are continuously produced and stored for when they are needed).

Question 5

Is the cost to refind bio-fuels expensive?

Answer 5

Yes, fairly expensive.

Question 6

Some people worry about Bio-fuels, why?

Answer 6

They worry that growing crops especially for bio-fuels will mean there isn’t enough space or water to meet the demands for crops that are grown for food.

Question 7

What are some negative things that have been done for Bio-fuel regarding the enviornment?

Answer 7

Some regions, large areas of forest have been cleared to make room to grow bio-fuels, resulting in lots of species losing their natural habitate. The decay and burning of this vegetation also increases CO2 and Methane emissions.

Question 8

Are Non-Renewable energy reliable or unreliable?

Answer 8

Non-Renewable is reliable.

Question 9

What Non-Renewable energy is reliable?

Answer 9

Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Energy are reliable.

Question 10

Is there enough fossil and nuclear fuels to meet current demand, and why?

Answer 10

Yes, they are extracted from the Earth at a fast enough rate that power plants always have fuel in stock.

This means that power plants can respond quickly to changes in demant (see page 189).

Question 11

Will Non-Renewable fuels run out, and if yes, when?

Answer 11

Yes, they are slowly running out, so if no new resources are found, some fossil fuel stocks may run out within a hundred years.

Question 12

Are Non-Renewable set up costs of power plants expensive?

Answer 12

Power plants set-up costs can be quite high, compared to some other energy resources, the running costs aren’t that expensive. Combined with fairly low fuel extraction costs, using fossil fuels is a cost effective way to produce energy (which is why it is so popular).

Question 13

How do Non-Renewable fuels create environmental problems?

Answer 13

Coal, Oil and Gas release CO2 into the atmosphere when they’re burned. All this CO2 adds to the greenhouse effect, and contributed to global warming.

Question 14

What is the greenhouse effect?

Answer 14

(the short answer is…)

The greenhouse effect is the way in which heat is trapped close to Earth’s surface by “greenhouse gases”. These heat-trapping gases can be thought of as a blanket wrapped around Earth, keeping the planet toastier than it would be without them.

Question 15

Burning coal and oil also release what? and causes acid rain?

Answer 15

It releases sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain - which can be harmful to trees and soils and can have far-reaching effects in ecosystems.

Question 16

How can Acid rain be reduced?

Answer 16

by taking the sulfur out before the fuel is burned, or cleaning up the emissions.

Question 17

What is a problem with Coal mining?

Answer 17

it makes a mess of the landscape, especially “open-cast mining”. As with many energy resources, the view can be spoilt by fossil fuel power plants.

Question 18

Why do Oil spillages cause serious environmental problems?

Answer 18

With oil spillages affects mammals and birds that live in and around the sea. We try to avoid them, but the’ll always happen.

Question 19

What problems are there with Nuclear Power, is it clean? explain your answer.

Answer 19

Nuclear power is clean but the nulear waste is very dangerous and difficult to dispose of.

Question 20

Is Nuclear fuel (e.g. uranium) relatively cheap?

Answer 20

yes it is relatively cheap but the overall cost of nuclear power is high due to the cost of the power plant and final decommissioning.

(decommissionimg means dismantling old nuclear power station safely)

Question 21

Why do Nuclear power always carry the risk of a major catastrophe?

Answer 21

Due to the leakage of radiation, which is dangerous to humans.

E.g. There was an accident in Japan, the Fukushia disaster, it occured 11 march 2011, it was triggered by the earthquake and tsunami which occured in the Pacific Ocean, 45 miles east of Japanese mainland.

On detecting the earthquake the active reactors automatacally shut down their normal power-generating fission reactions. because of these shutdowns and other electrical grid supply problems, the reactors’ electricity supply failed, and their emergency diesel generators automatically started. Critically, these were required to provide electrical power to the pumps that circulated coolant through the reactors’ cores. This continued circulation was vital to remove residual decay heat, which continues to be produced after fission has ceased. However the earthquake had also generated a tsunami 14 meters (46 ft) high that arrived shortly afterwards, swept over the plant’s seawall then flooded the lower parts of the reactor buildings. This flooding caused the failure of the emergency generators and loss of power to the circulating pumps. The resultant loss of reactor core cooling led to three nuclear meltdowns, three hydrogen explosions, and the release of radioactive contamination.

In the days after the accident, radiation released into the atmosphere forced the government to declare an ever-larger evacuation zone around the plant, culminating in an evacuation zone with a 20 kilometers (12 mile) radius. 110,000 residents were evacuated from the communities surrounding the plant due to the rising off-site levels of ambient ionizing radiation caused by airborne radioactive contamination from the damaged reactors.

Question 22

What is Radiation?

Answer 22

It is energy that comes from a source and travels through space at the speed of light. This energy has an electric field and a magnetic field associated with it, and has wave-like properties, you could also call radiation electromagnetic waves”

Radiation can be dangerous to humans, see ore on page 199.

(make sure you can talk about the reliability and any environmental issues of using bio-fuels or non-renewables)

Question 23

Give two benefits of power plants that use fossil fuels? (2 marks)

Answer 23

Any two from e.g. they’re reliable/they’re comparatively cheap to run/they can respond quickly to changes in demand (2 marks).

Question 24

Describe the environmental impact of using oil as an energy resource for generating electricity (3 marks)

Answer 24

E.g. burning oil releases carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming (1 mark). It also produces sulfur dioxide which causes acid rain, which is harmful to trees and animals and can have far-reaching effects in ecosystems (1mark). Oil spills also occur when transportig oil, which can harm/kill animals that live in and around the sea (1 mark).