How energy resources are classified as non-renewable, renewable and recyclable; the environmental impacts of extracting and using them; and why access to energy is unevenly distributed between people and places.

What this dot point is asking

This is Edexcel GCSE Geography B (1GB0) Paper 3, Section C (Topic 9, Consuming energy resources). Edexcel expects you to explain how energy resources are classified as non-renewable (finite fossil fuels), renewable (flows such as solar, wind and HEP) and recyclable (nuclear and biofuels); the environmental impacts of extracting and using them (landscape scarring, oil spills, carbon emissions, forest removal, and the land-use impacts of renewables); and why access to energy is unevenly distributed because of technology and physical resources, with an uneven global pattern of energy use per capita. World maps of energy resources and use are common resources.

Classifying energy resources

Energy resources fall into three groups depending on whether they run out.

Environmental impacts of energy

Every energy source has an environmental cost, both when it is extracted and when it is used.

Uneven access to energy

Energy is not shared equally around the world.

Access to energy depends on two things: access to technology (the money and infrastructure to extract, generate and distribute energy) and access to physical resources (geology determines fossil-fuel and mineral reserves; climate and landscape determine renewable potential, so sunny countries can use solar and mountainous, wet ones can use HEP). As a result, the global pattern of energy use per capita is very uneven: it is highest in developed regions (North America, Europe, the Gulf states, Australia) and lowest in developing regions (much of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia), with emerging economies in between. The causes are levels of economic development, reliance on traditional fuel sources (wood and charcoal in poorer areas) and demand from different economic sectors.

Try this

Q1. Classify coal, solar power and nuclear power as non-renewable, renewable or recyclable. [3 marks]

• Cue. Coal is non-renewable, solar power is renewable, and nuclear power is recyclable.

Q2. Explain one reason access to energy is unevenly distributed between countries. [3 marks]

• Cue. Access depends on technology and physical resources: developed countries can afford the technology to extract and generate energy and may have fossil-fuel reserves or renewable potential, while poorer countries lack the money or resources, so use per capita is lower.