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P1: Quiz 14 – Answers
P1: Quiz 14 – Answers
1) Electricity demand has decreased during the 21st century as devices have become more efficient (they waste less energy) and individuals are becoming more careful with how they use electricity (consumer behaviour is changing)
2) Any points such as:
3) Any points such as:
2) Any points such as:
- Consumers and governments are more aware of the negative effects of generating electricity from fossil fuels; the negative effects are climate change/ the enhanced greenhouse effect, acid rain, damage to the environment during extraction etc.
- We will always be able to generate electricity from renewable energy sources whereas one day non-renewable energy sources will run out
- There is international pressure for countries to sign up to agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions. One way that countries can cut greenhouse gas emissions is by switching from fossil fuels to renewables to generate electricity.
3) Any points such as:
- The move across from fossil fuels to renewables will be extremely expensive. Consumers or businesses will have to pay for the cost through increased taxation and nobody likes to pay tax
- Some of the renewables (like wind turbines and solar) are not very reliable at generating electricity; they will only generate electricity when it is sunny or windy and are unable to respond to a change in electricity demand. Developments in storage (like batteries) can help us to overcome the reliability issue with some renewable energy resources
- There are issues about where to put the renewables. A lot of individuals do not want wind turbines to be placed too close to their homes
- Renewable energy resources cannot be placed anywhere. For example, we can only build a hydroelectric power station in certain locations
- It is quite expensive for consumers to buy devices that use renewable energy resources. For example, solar cells/ panels are quite expensive, so not many households would be able to afford to pay for the solar panels
- Research into renewables and storage takes time and is extremely expensive
- Electric or hybrid cars are very expensive, so not many consumers can afford to switch to these types of cars from traditional petrol or diesel cars
Questions
1) During the 21st century electricity demand has decreased over time. Explain why?
2) Discuss why there has been an increase in the proportion of electricity that is generated from renewables over the last 15 or so years in the UK.
3) Discuss some of the issues and complications that are making the move from fossil fuels to renewables quite slow? Try to write quite a lot for this question.