Chapter 7: Energy Resources

Renewable and non-renewable resources

Renewable energy resources are replaced Non-renewable energy resources can’t be replaced
at a higher rate than being consumed at the same rate at which they’re being consumed
 Energy from the sun

Most of our energy resources on the Earth come from

the Sun:

• The Sun heats up the atmosphere, creating wind and

producing waves

• Water evaporated by the Sun falls as rain, filling

up reservoirs

• Plants grown using sunlight form the basis for fuels –

both biofuels and fossil fuels
Some forms of energy, however, do not come
from the Sun:
These include:

• Geothermal – this comes from heat produced in the

Earth’s core

• Nuclear – this comes from elements which make up a

small proportion of the Earth’s crust

• Tidal – this comes (mainly) from the gravitational

attraction of the Moon
Solar energy resource
• Solar cells transfer energy from sunlight
electrically producing a current, and therefore
generating electricity

• Solar cells, sometimes called photovoltaic

cells or photo cells, are made of
semiconducting materials

• A number of cells connected together can

supply electricity to homes, small-scale
businesses, communication devices and
satellites

• Energy generated from solar cells can be

stored in batteries for later use

Solar cells (also called photovoltaic

cells) use energy from sunlight to
produce electricity
Solar energy resource

• Solar panels transfer energy from

sunlight to the thermal store of the
solar panels which is used to heat
water in the pipes Solar panels can
be used to warm domestic water
supplies

Solar panels use energy from sunlight to

heat water
Advantages and disadvantages of solar energy resource

Advantages Disadvantages

• Solar farms need to be large scale to

• Solar energy is a renewable resource produce large amounts of electricity:

• In many places on Earth sunlight is 1. This is expensive to set up

a reliable energy resource (this means that 2. People often don't like the appearance of
the sun shines most of the time) large solar farms, this is known as visual
pollution
• Solar farms produce no greenhouse
gases or pollution
• In many places on Earth sunlight
• Solar energy can be generated in remote is not a reliable energy resource (there
places are not enough sunshine-hours to justify
the set-up costs)
Wind energy resource

• Energy is harnessed from wind produces

electricity from generators in the wind
turbines

• The approximate efficiency of wind

generators is approximately 30%
• Energy is lost to aerodynamic limits,
and losses transferring the electricity to
the grid and friction within the system

Wind turbines are regularly placed in coastal

areas, with windy conditions to generate
electricity
• A group of wind turbines creates a wind
farm
• These are used to power nearby towns
and cities
Advantages and disadvantages of wind energy resource

Advantages Disadvantages
• Clean (non-polluting) energy • Not consistent energy production
generation (no greenhouse gases / (only when it is windy)
pollution)
• Needs favourable local conditions
• Freely available to be placed in windy locations i.e.
on the coast so cannot be in a city
• Is always sustainable and will never
run out • Can be visually unappealing
Can harm some wildlife (e.g. birds)
Wave and Tide Power

• The rise and fall of waves or the tide can be

used to turn a turbine and generate electricity

Wave power: Waves form by friction

Tidal power: A dam is built across a river
between wind and water
estuary creating a reservoir
Advantages and disadvantages of wave and tidal energy resource
Advantages Disadvantages
• No pollution • Expensive to build (the
machines can corrode in
• Tidal power is reliable and saltwater and get damaged
can produce a large amount by storms)
of electricity at short notice • Damages fragile habitats
since the tides rise and fall
every 12 hours • Very few suitable locations
approximately. • The technology is not
advanced enough for large
• Renewable energy resource scale electricity production
• Wave power is unreliable:
• Small systems are being - since the height of waves
developed to provide can vary.
electricity for small islands - it’s also hard to convert up-
and-down motion of waves into
spinning motion for a turbine to
work.
Hydroelectric Power
• When water is stored above ground level it has
energy in its gravitational potential store
Advantages Disadvantages
• This energy can be transferred to kinetic • Need to flood
energy if the water is allowed to flow down • Can respond to valleys to build
the slope demand so which destroys
is reliable and availa habitats, towns
• Flowing water turns the turbine to generate ble and villages
electricity
• Can generate large • The pumping
scale amounts of systems can
electricity release large
amounts of
• Useful for storing greenhouse
energy until there is a gases
sudden increase in
demand
Geothermal Power
• Radioactive elements deep in the Earth release
energy as they decay, this geothermal
energy heats up the rocks, sometimes to a
high temperature Advantages Disadvantages

• Water can be poured into shafts below the • Few suitable

Earth's surface which is heated by the • Renewable resourc locations on
e Earth so small
rocks and returned via another shaft as steam
scale production
or hot water
• Reliable source of of electricity
energy
• Steam can be used to turn a turbine • Can result in the
and generate electricity, and hot water can • Geothermal power release of
be used to heat homes stations are usually greenhouse
small compared to gases from
nuclear or fossil fuel underground
power stations
• Expensive to
build
Biomass fuels
• Biomass fuels Account to approx.
10% of global energy consumption.

• 2/3 of biomass fuels is used in

developing countries for cooking
and heating
Advantages Disadvantages
• Burning
• Renewable reso biofuels might
urce cause
respiratory and
• Reliable source other health
of energy (can problem.
be burned when
needed) • Consumes
resources
needed for food
production
 Fossil Fuels

• Fossil fuels are:

• Coal
• Natural gas (mostly methane) which is
used in domestic boilers and cookers
• Crude oil which is refined into petrol,
diesel, and other fuels

• Fossil fuels are formed from the remains of plants

and animals
• They are usually hydrocarbon ( compounds of
hydrogen and carbon)

• Chemical energy stored in fossil fuels originally

came from sunlight

• When burned, they combine with oxygen carbon

dioxide, water and energy are released.

Hydrocarbon + oxygen  carbon dioxide +

water + energy
 Fossil Fuels

Advantages Disadvantages

• The current systems of transport and • They are considered to be a non-

electricity generation rely heavily on fossil renewable energy resource
fuels which are generally
readily available on a daily basis • The increasing demand for
a decreasing supply causes prices
• In the past fossil fuels have to increase
been reliable for large scale energy
• Fossil fuels are predicted
production although this is changing as
to completely run out within the next
supplies deplete and prices rise
200 years
• Concentrated energy resource ( a fair
• Release of carbon dioxide which
amount of fuel can be enough to generate
contributes to the greenhouse effect
electricity)
• Release of sulphur dioxide which
produces acid rain
 Nuclear Fuels

• Energy stored in the nucleus of atoms can be

released when the nucleus is broken in two

• This is known as nuclear fission

 Nuclear Fuels

Advantages Disadvantages

• Very Concentrated energy resource (A • They are considered to be a non-

large amount of power is produced from a renewable energy resource
small amount of source )
• Nuclear fuels produce radioactive
• Nuclear reactors are perfectly safe as waste
long as they are functioning properly
• Radioactive waste needs to be stored
for thousands of years
• Nuclear power stations can generate
electricity reliably on a large • Safe ways of storing radioactive
scale which is available as needed waste is expensive

• If an accident occurs at a nuclear

reactor, radioactive waste can leak
out and spread over large areas
and cause serious, long term
damage to people and objects
Using energy resource to produce electricity

Fossil fuels, nuclear fuels, geothermal Wind, tidal, hydroelectric

turbine  generator
Boiler  turbine  generator
Using energy resource to produce electricity

nuclear fuels Wind, tidal, hydroelectric

turbine  generator
Boiler  turbine  generator
Comparing natural resources
● Renewability :
Renewable ( not limited), Non- renewable ( limited)
● Cost :
Initial cost ( building or purchasing), running cost (ex. Disposing nuclear wastes)
● Availability
Where the resource is available ( every resource is located in a specific area)
● Reliability
Is the energy supply constantly available?
● Scale
Concentrated or dilute energy resource?
● Environmental impact
Does it cause pollution?
Nuclear fusion
• High pressure forces the
atoms together

• High temperatures ionizes

the atoms creating a
plasma of positive nuclei

• High pressure and

temperature are needed to
overcome the electrostatic
repulsion and force the
nuclei to fuse
• The mass of the produced
nucleus is slightly less than
the original masses

• The difference in mass is

turned into energy
Nuclear fusion on Earth : Tokamak

• Complicated arrangement of magnets stops the

plasma from touching the walls ( confines the charged
particles)

• Neutrons are not charged, they can’t be confined and

so they hit the walls of the tokamak.

• Collisions produce heat, that will heat up the water.