Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Geography - Energy / Resources (Types of energy (Non-renewable (Advantages…
Geography - Energy / Resources
Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm
Advantages to location
#
Shallow water depths
Less maintenance necessary
Close to an electrical grid
Easier and more convenient for under seafloor power cables
High wind speeds, 7m/s
More electricity can be generated
Offshore wind speeds are steadier
Reliable source of energy, constant generation of energy
Disadvantages to location
Can be seen along the coastline (They are ugly)
Damages tourism industry
Causes value of local properties to drop
Cost of building an offshore wind farm is twice as expensive as onshore counterpart
On
shore :
$2400
Off
shore:
$4600
This is because it is expensive to install power cables under the seafloor to land
It is expensive to maintain and/or repair as waves, storms, hurricanes can damage wind turbines
Types of energy
Non-renewable
Definition : Sources are finite and will run out when the 'stock' is fully depleted
Example :Coal, Oil, Gas
Advantages
Easy to harness
Cheap to setup
Very efficient
Very reliable
Disadvantages
Greenhouse gases
Will eventually run out
Impact on environment when extracting
Renewable
Definition : Sources which can be replenished and won't run out in the foreseeable future. The 'flow' doesn't run out
Examples : HEP, Solar, Wind
Advantages
Never runs out
No harmful bi-products
Disadvantages
Expensive initially
Takes time to repay 'investment ' of setting it up
Not efficient - 'flow' can be slow
Intermittent - not reliable
Needs a large area - such as in the example of wind farms
Recyclable
Energy sources with a finite 'stock' although the 'stock' can be replenished at the same rate it is used up
Examples : Nuclear, Biomass, Wood
Advantages
If managed well, will never run out
Most cases - no harmful bi-products
Disadvantages
Difficult to balance usage and replenishment of stock
Nuclear accidents are extremely dangerous - making whole areas inhospitable for decades
Global Warming
Impacts of Global Warming
Melting ice caps
Rising sea levels
Increase in cost of coastal protection
Cities submerged
People homeless/have to move
Global temps rise
Plants may not be able to adapt fast enough
Impacts fragile ecosystems
More extreme weather
More extreme events as warmer seas
Responses of Global Warming
The Greenhouse Effect
The sun's rays pass through the atmosphere to the earth's surface
Warming the surface
Reflected heat is lost to space or reflected back by the atmosphere
This is trapped by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
The burning of fossil fuels/removing forests increases co2 levels.
So the atmosphere gets warmer and warmer
Located on the west coast of the UK, in the Irish Sea