Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

with reference to 2 contrasting countries describe and explain differences in the energy mix

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Energy sources can be divided into two catogories. One is the non-renewable sources, such as fossil fuels, the most commonly used in the globe. The other one is renewable sources including HEP, wind, solar and wave as well as many other forms. As we all know that the fossil fuels are finite resources, meaning that they will eventually run out. Also, the share of renewable enegy production is very low, which means this might not allow the demand to shift from fossil fuels that we currently rely on to renewable sources. This is currently becoming more and more concerning because not only has the demand risen dramatically due to population growth and aspiration of living in higher standards, but also that fact that global supply of oil, one of the most important energy sources may have reached its peak. Also, according to the BP reserves-to production ratio, the reseves will only last for another 40years. Many countries often struggle with securing energy sources needed for electricity generation as well as the increasing domestic demand and economical growth. It is clear that as a country becomes more developed, the greater amount of energy needed. ...read more.

Middle

and petroleum (37 per cent). In 1990, the split between fuels was similar to that in 1980; however by 2000 with changes in electricity generation, natural gas consumption had become the dominant fuel responsible for 41 per cent of all energy consumption in the UK, whilst solid fuels had fallen from 31 per cent in 1990 to 17 per cent in 2000. By 2011 more renewable fuels had entered the energy mix for both electricity generation and bioenergy consumption. The reasons The fuel consumption was dominated by coal in 1970s because at that time there were abundant amount of sources and most of them are easily accessible meaning they are not too deep to extract. Also, there were not as much awareness of environmental concerns such as air pollution or the destruction of depleted area. Futhermore, coalmining was the country?s biggest industry. Most importantly, the costs were very cheap. There were not as much gas produced in 1970s partly due to the sources in north sea were not found yet and the prices were higher. The consumption of gas has noticeably increased because the UK obtain the reserves in the north sea and even after reaching its peak the government still encourages small-scale company to deplete the remaining. ...read more.

Conclusion

There is a slight growth in the HEP, nuclear, and other renewable generation over the past 10 years as well. IEA data for 2009 indicate that the electrification rates for India were 66 percent for the country as a whole. Ninety-four percent of the 404 million that do not have access to electricity live in rural areas where electrification rates are approximately 50 percent. With such increasing demand for energy due to population growth and higher living standard in urban areas, importation will be definitely needed. To conclude, both countries the UK and India have high reliance on thermal forms of energy and both facing problems with the limited available sources. However, the situation is much more severe in India where in the countryside there are often blackouts. The UK?s consumption is increasing, however at a much slower rate compared to India and this worsens the electricity shortage. The UK?s generation is more or less self-suffient but becoming more relied on importing natural gas whereas in India although they are the fourth largest coal producer, they import many fossils. The future solution may be shifting the reliance on fossil fuel to other forms of energy that is sustainable and renewable or increase the efficiency in obtaining energy. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Production - Location & Change section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related AS and A Level Production - Location & Change essays

  1. Marked by a teacher

    The Scott Report and the Making of the Modern Countryside - 'How penetrating was ...

    5 star(s)

    For example counter urbanisation had little to do with the contents of the recommendations. Although the Report wanted to stem the 'drift to the land' the factors that affected this were not a consequence of the recommendations. The Report did not envisage the effect commuters and the elderly would have on rural areas.

  2. Opportunities in the big emerging markets (BEMs) such as India, Brazil and China.

    Another major problem was poor delivery reliability from the local carriers in terms of not delivering the goods on time. This could be owing to the lack of customer service orientation of the local carriers, or owing to the lack of cargo tracing capabilities, which prevent the firm from monitoring the delivery process or act expeditiously when contingencies occur.

  1. What natural resources does Antarctica have?

    It may be possible for coal to be used in some small research stations as a source of heat, however. OIL: Oil deposits are formed when plants and small animal remains are buried in a marine environment by sand and mud.

  2. "Can the theories that Alfred D. Chandler developed in his book 'Scale and Scope: ...

    Accordingly, one might expect these industries to follow the patterns that have been derived from the industrial history of the 19th century, which is especially remarkable when one considers the extremely short life cycles of most economic theories. Nevertheless, it might be necessary to make some adaptations to the theory to better tune it to today's facts.

  1. Why have agricultural surpluses become a feature of many countries in the developed world ...

    Several problems were caused though by the intensification of agriculture, which possibly are more important than the benefits, which have been stated. Firstly, EU subsidies promoted environmental damage and destruction. Subsidies were beneficial as they guaranteed farmers a minimum price and an assured market for their produce but the determination

  2. In what ways are banks in developing countries different from banks in financially developed ...

    Obviously, all of these solutions require a functioning legal system and a certain degree of banks' independence. Common Problems in LDCs As pointed out beforehand, a strong correlation between economic growth and the development of a sound financial sector is proven to exist (Roubini and Sala-i-Martin, 1995).

  1. Were the Rebecca Riots a justifiable expression of rural discontent?

    This source was written by Rev J Evans who is an educated man touring South Wales in 1804. The passage was written before the Rebecca Riots so may not portray the right image of what the farming conditions were like then.

  2. Assignment on Computer Integrated Manufacturing

    Having seen that CIM has to be implemented at different levels of functional units within a company, now, we will look at the major advantages and disadvantages of implementing CIM. One major benefit of implementing CIM is cost reduction thus increasing profits intake.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work