Energy Security

Energy Security

Types of energy source
-4% of global energy comes from renewables
-85% from fossil fuels
-10.2% from recyclables; biofuels, biomass and nuclear

Distribution
-determined by physical geography
-UK has rich reserves of oil, coal and gas alongside strong potential for renewables due to; Europe’s strongest winds, glacial valleys and large tidal ranges (up to 15m)
-Iceland has high geothermal potentials
-in 2004 4 countries made up 70% of Uranium production led by Canada (285)
-in 2025 60% of the world’s oil come from the Middle East
-27% of the World’s proven gas reserves are in Russia
-distribution leads to a mismatch between fossil fuels and supply
-some countries are in capable of taking advantage of renewable potential due to wealth such as Mali and solar energy

Energy Use
-“energy mix” is the reasons why certain sources are preferred and is a combination of factors
-Physical; North Sea gas became accessible leading to a “dash for gas” in the early 90s
-Public perception; Chernobyl in 86 turned public will against nuclear power
-Politics; fear of gas being shut off by Russia due to political differences
-Technology; solar panel efficiency grew from 5% to 40% between 1970 and 2008 making it more financially viable
-Economics; wind power now costs $55 per MWH which is roughly the same as coal and gas making it attractive
-Environment; concerns have led to greater use of renewables; use of wind generated energy grew 6x between 01 and 08 in the UK

Energy trends
-demand is projected to grow by 50% between 2005 and 2030
-growth expected to be 0.7% in developed countries but 2.5% in emerging economies such as China and India
-China’s coal usage increased by 17% per year between 02 and 05
-continued reliance on fossil fuels because; nuclear plants are expensive and timely (10 years) to build, renewables such as wind are unreliable, solar power is difficult to “upscale”, China and India hold 10% of the World’s coal reserves

Energy security
 -High security; economically recoverable reserves of fossil fuels…