Energy Resources

Fossil Fuels - it is not renewable, an advantage is it is very reliable and it can produce large amounts of energy at fairly short notice, and a disadvantage is it produces a lot of greenhouse gases and pollution

Nuclear - it is not renewable, an advantage is it doesn't produce any greenhouse gases or pollution and a large amount of energy is produced from a small amount of fuel, and a disadvantage is it produces dangerous radioactive waste that can take thousands of years to decay

Bio-Fuels - it is renewable, an advantage is the CO₂ produced while buming the fuel is balanced by the CO₂ absorbed whilst producing it, and a disadvantage is it can take up a lot of land and consume resources that are needed for food production

Wind - it is renewable, an advantage is it produces no greenhouse gases or pollution and land can still be used for farming, and a disadvantage is that it isn't reliable and it can be noisy and ugly, and not everywhere for them to go is suitable

Hydroelectric - it is renewable, an advantage is it is very reliable and can produce large amount of energy at short notice and it produces no pollution of greenhouse gases, and a disadvantage is it can involve flooding large area, destroying important wildlife habitats

Tidal - it is renewable, an advantage is the tides are very predictable and a large amount of energy can be produced at regular intervals, a disadvantage is it can cause environmental harm and little suitable locations

Geothermal - it is renewable, an advantage is it is very reliable and geothermal stations are usually small, a disadvantage is it can result in the release of harmful gases from underground and not many places are very suitable for them

Solar - it is renewable, an advantage is it produces no greenhouse gases or pollution and it is good for producing energy in remote places, a disadvantage is it is not very reliable (it only works when it is sunny) and solar farms can use up lots of farmland.

The current evidence for climate change is overwhelming – in order to limit global warming we need to reduce our carbon emissions. Doing so, however, requires a balanced approach – carbon neutral energy resources either lack public support, reliability or cannot produce sufficient energy to meet our needs

Over the past 20 years there has been a gradual shift towards cleaner technologies. Government grants have encouraged the development of wind and solar farms:

Coal has gradually been replaced with cleaner natural gas. A new generation of nuclear power stations are currently in development – although with old power stations being shut down, nuclear power is becoming a smaller option.

Further reduction of carbon emissions will require some further measures:

More nuclear power stations will be needed to replace existing fossil fuel stations. A means of storing energy from unreliable sources (like solar and wind) will need to be developed.