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Provision of UK Resources (Water :droplet: (Water demand (Most of the…
Provision of UK Resources
Energy :zap:
Energy demand
Overall, Energy consumption has fallen, due to decline of heavy industry and improved energy consumption. Low-energy appliances, better building insulation and more fuel-efficient cars have resulted in a 60% fall in industry and 12% in domestic use.
Energy mix
The UK's energy mix has changed a lot in the last 25 years, by 2020 the UK aims to meet 15% of its own energy requirement (from renewable sources)
The major change in the UK energy mix has been the decline of coal. Between 1990 and 2007 there was a steady decline due to concerns of greenhouse gas emissions. The UK's oil production overall has declined by 6% each year for the last decade.
Impact of energy exploitation
Nuclear :warning:
Economically, Nuclear energy power plants are very expensive to build. e.g Hinkley Point will cost around £18 billion.
High costs for producing electricity
Decommissioning old nuclear power plants is expensive.
Construction of new plants provides job opportunities and boosts the local economy
Environmentally, the safe processing and storage of the highly toxic and radioactive waste is a big problem
Warm waste water can harm local ecosystems
The risk of harmful radioactive leaks
Wind Farms :wind_chime:
-Economically, High construction costs
May have negative impacts on local economy by reducing visitor numbers.
-Some wind farms attract visitors by becoming tourist attractions.
At Delabole wind farm in Cornwall, the UK's first commercial wind farm, local homeowners benefit from lower energy bills.
Visual impact on the landscape. In the Lake District, concerns about falling visitor numbers have resulted in several plans being rejected.
Wind farms avoid harmful gas emissions
Noise
Access roads can impact the environment
Fracking :oil_drum:
The UK has rich reserves of natural gas trapped deep underground in shale rocks. Fracking is the process off extracting these gases with high pressure liquids.
Fracking is controversial due to
possibility of earthquakes
pollution of underground water sources
the high costs of extraction
Water :droplet:
Water demand
Most of the water demand is for households (47%) while leakages take up to 21% of out water and services take 13%.
The demand is rising and it is estimated that by 2020 it will have risen by 5% because of the growing population, more housing and the increase of water-intensive domestic appliances.
Water supply
Sources of water include rivers, reservoirs and groundwater aquifers. The UK receives enough rainfall to supply the demand but the rain doesn't fall where it is needed.
Where rain falls (in north and west of UK) there is a water surplus where water exceeds demand. But where there is limited rainfall (in the south and east) there is a water deficit where demand exceeds supply. There is often water stress in the south east especially during droughts.
Water Quality
The Environment Agency manages water quality by monitoring river quality; filtering water to remove sediment; adding chlorine to purify; restricting recreational use of water sources and imposing regulations on the uses of water.
Pollution of groundwater sources can happen due to: leaching from old mines; discharge from industrial sites; runoff from chemical fertilisers on farms and water used in power stations put back in rivers.
Water transfer
Rivers Tyne, Derwent, Wear and Tees transfer water from areas of water surplus to areas of water deficit.
In the future another water transfer scheme will need to be in place to met the demand but the impacts of such a large-scale engineering projects include:
-Destruction of habitats and wildlife
-High costs
-Greenhouse gases released in pumping water long distance
Food
The UK imports over 40% of it’s food.
Another reason the uk imports food is becasue its cheaper to produe in other countrys. the labour is cheaper.
The main reason for this is a high demand for exotic foods like beans from Kenya and strawberry’s from Spain.
There is also a very bad climate in the uk for growing the foods that are in high demand.
There is a high demand for seasonal, products in the uk and we cant produce certain products all year round
By 2037, the population of the uk is expected to rise to 73 million. this will put in a higher demand for food.
Importing most of the food in the uk is very expensive and not very efficient.
What are the impacts of importing so much food?
Pollution is a downside of importing food. The ships used to import are often very damaging to the environment.
It is very expensive for the UK, however producing the food in the UK is also very expensive.
It is very unfair for the workers in the countries producing the food. the workeres making the food only get 24p of the £2 beans we buy from kenya.
