Energy

Sources

• Nuclear - Non-renewable, possible health risks, high set up costs, low supplies globally, reliable, extremely efficient
• Coal - Non-renewable, releases CO2, will run out in119 years, can be burnt to provide heat, easily accessible in many countries - 25%
• Oil - Non-renewable, global supplies may have reached their peak, release CO2, easy to move - 37%
• Natural Gas - non-renewable, releases CO2, issue of supply, danger of gas leaks, burnt to provide heat, readily avaliable - 23%
• HEP - renewable, only certain locations suitable, variable supply, will not run out, no CO2, cheap to maintain - 3%
• Solar - renewable, expensive compared with fossil fuels, only works during the day, no CO2, will not run out - 0.5%
• Geothermal - renewable, hazardous gases may escape, limited avaliability, no CO2, will not run out - 0.2%
• Biomass - recyclable, can be difficult to get enough, fuel quite cheap, useful in developing countries - 4%

Energy Crisis

• Consumption - in 2007 consumed 21.3% of all global primary energy and 24% of worlds oil
• Reliance on imports  - increased to 58% on gas and oil
• reserves of fossil fuels are running out
• Demand is increasing

California

• Has 16% of USA's oil reserves
• Produces 5% of USA's total electricity

Reasons for Blackouts

• Weather - HEP stopped due to 3 year drought, summer of 2000 unusually hot, winter unusually cold
• Limited capacity of power lines to import electricity
• Enrom made prices high

Energy Mix

• Natural gas - 37%
• Coal - 35%
• Nuclear - 21%
• Renewable - 4%
• Britain is becoming increasing reliant on imported oil and gas from countries such as Russia
• Proved oil reserves = 4 billion barrels 

Factors affecting supply

• Geology - shallower reserves of fossil fuels have been exhausted
• Location - has some of the worlds best wind, wave and tidal reserves

Factors affecting security

• Physical - exhaustion of reserves
• Environmental - protests of environmental change
• Economic - sudden rise in energy costs
• Geopolitical - political stability

Background

• 2007, accounted for 15% of global energy
• Controls 3% of worlds oil reserves
• Consumed less than 3 million barrels per day

Where does it all come from?

• Coal - worlds biggest producer + consumer, accounts for 70% of electricity generation
• HEP - 16% of energy, 3 Gorges Dam, wants to build on all rivers
• Oil - production has now peaked and exploration into offshore reserves
• Gas - plans have slowed to expand chinas natural gas

Levels of consumption

• 7,999 thousand barrels of consumption of oil daily
• 80.7 billion cubic metres of gas per year
• 1406.3m tonnes of coal a year

Causes of rising demand

• 'Open door policy' to overseas investment
• Became more of a capatilists economy
• From both economic growth and rapid urbanisation

Security

• Protecting oil imports from middle east
• Building up powerful navy to protect its sea lanes
• Importing enregy from Iran, Sudan, Canada and Australia

Resources

• 15.5 thousand million barrels of oil
• 2.46 trillion cubic metres of gas
• 114,500m tonnes of coal per/year

East Siberian Pacific Ocean pipeline - 2600 miles long

China

• Needs energy to fuel its economic growth
• Main energy pathway for China is vulnerable - 80% pass through Strait of Malacca
• China and Russia have joint political intrest in US military presence in Middle East + Asia

Japan

• Has almost no reserves of its own
• 3rd largest oil consumer
• Reduce Japans dependence on the MIddle East - 76% of imports
• Wants to engage with Russia to increase political and economic influnence
• Extend into Pacific - offered $7billion to finance

Problems

• Russia and China share 4300km border so good relationship is vital
• But they are suspicious of each other
• Russia sees China as a rival power + potential threat
• Russia has been reluctant to commit itself too heavily in terms of energy

Good or bad?

• Russia could build most expensive pipeline in history
• Help to build relationship between Russia and Japan
• Russia will be able to export more widely to other countries in Asia
• A spur will be built off to China + promised to increase oil exports to 300,000 barrels a day

Russia

• Re-emerging as global player
• Power lies in its natural resources

Ukraine

• Negotiations over renewal of gas supply, failed to agree on price Kiev should pay in 2009
• Gas supplies were cut off completely from 7th January
• Left dozens of countries without gas
• Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia were left with major shortages
• European countries had to shut down industrial plants

Should Europe be worried?

• Yes - because of amount Russia supplies, when Gazprom shut down pipeline supply fell by 40%
• No - export market is too valuable to lose for Russia, supply of gas is stable, now hoping to building piplines which bypass Ukraine
• EU planning its own pipeline

Abqaiq

• Feb 2004, terrorists attacked oil plant
• First direct al-qaeda attack on oil
• Hub of 12,000miles of oil and gas

Iran

• Major production hotspot
• 3rd largest oil reserves
• Strong anti-American governement
• Alliance being built between Russia, Iran and China, excluding America

America Invades Iraq

• 4th largest oil reserves in the world
• America invaded March 2003 
• America hoped to reduce dependence on Saudi oil and increase its energy security
• Motive to access Iraqs oil?

Kuwait

• Iraq invaded Kuwait
• Felt it owned some of Kuwaits oil and Kuwait was selling too much

Gazprom - A TNC with power

• Based in Moscow
• Worlds largest gas supply company
• Annual earnings of £31.55billion and controls 1/3 worlds gas supplies
• Accounts for 92% of Russias gas production and 25% of EU's gas, 4% of Britains
• Shut off supplies to Ukraine over dispute - Orange revolution

OPEC

• Formed in 1990, a cartel
• Co-ordinate petrolium prices bewteen its members to ensure fair prices for products in response to economic growth
• Proven reserves of 900,000million barrels of oil, 78% of worlds total
• Political instability following 2003 Iran invasion
• Oil traders speculating future prices

Shell 

• Global group of energy companies 
• Produce 2% of worlds oil and 3% of worlds gas
• 3.1 million barrels of oil and gas per day

Alberta, Canada

• Contains up to 2.5 trillion barrels of oil
• Made of sand, water and bitumen
• P
• roduces 1 million barrels per day in 2003
• By 2030 plan to produce at least 5 million 

Benefits

• Alternative source of oil
• Could meet 16% of NA demand for oil
• Oil accounted for 20% of China's exports

Problems

• Cost $15 a barrel to extract oil, crude oil costs $2
• It takes 1 barrel of oil to 3 barrels
• Processed tar sands = large amount of greenhouse gases
• Removal of tree's and shrubs 

Arctic

• Estimated to contain 25% of worlds oil
• Russia claimed nearly half of Arctic but USA and Norway want part

Benefits

• At around $70 per barrel makes drillling viable
• contains up to 25% or worlds natural gas and oil

Problems

• Oil companies have already destroyed parts of Alaska and should be kept out of Arctic
• Arctic is pristine environment containing over 45 species
• Issue over who has right to claim

Players

• Arctic states - USA, Russia, Norway, Sweden
• UN wll decide control over Arctic by 2020
• Local people
• Environmental groups

The Good

• Multi energy solution - Futureenergy demands are met from a mixture of renewable, recyclable and non-renewable resources, can be controversial in terms of nuclear and wind
• Energy Conservation - reducing the amount of energy used to reduce costs/emissions or promote energy security, EU countries have targets to reduce emissions

The Bad

• Business as usual - global primary energy demand will rise by 53% leading to a 55% rise in Carbon emissions, fossil fuels will remain dominant source of energy, coal will provide largest source of power generation, 70% of the increase in global primary energy deman will be from developing countries, consumption of gas will double by 2030

The Ugly

• Geopolitcal conflicts - producer countries use their resources as bargining tools (OPEC), military tension and stress points increase, developing countries are exploited e.g. China offering economic and military protection to African countries for exploitation, tensions