Impacts of Non-Renewable Energy and Fracking

• Environmental Degradation: The burning of coal releases Sulphur Dioxide ($SO_2$), causing acid rain that damages forests and aquatic ecosystems. Oil spills are devastating; the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster released 134 million gallons of oil, killing 11 crew members, 167,000 turtles, and affecting 93 bird species.
• Landscape and Biodiversity: Open-cast mining causes severe landscape scarring. In Alberta, Canada, extracting bitumen from tar sands (requiring 2 tons of sand for one barrel of oil) has caused large-scale deforestation of the boreal forest, threatening caribou, lynx, and wolverines.
• Arctic Amplification: The Arctic warms at twice the global rate due to the Albedo effect (loss of reflective ice). Melting permafrost releases trapped Carbon Dioxide ($CO_2$) and Methane ($CH_4$), creating a dangerous positive feedback loop.
• Social Impacts: Coal mining is linked to respiratory "black lung" disease. Tar sands extraction has been associated with increased cancer rates in downstream indigenous communities, leading to intense land rights conflicts between transnational corporations (TNCs) and First Nations groups.

The Nuclear Power Debate

You can snap a piece of coal in half easily, but splitting a single atom releases millions of times more energy. Nuclear Fission generates electricity using highly concentrated uranium; just 1 kg of Uranium-235 produces 2-3 million times the energy of 1 kg of coal.

• Advantages: Nuclear power produces zero greenhouse gas emissions during operation. It provides a highly reliable, constant Base Load for the national grid, unlike weather-dependent renewables. It is a major employer, with the US nuclear sector supporting approximately 475,000 jobs. In 2014, France successfully generated 77% of its electricity from nuclear power.
• Disadvantages and Risks: Nuclear energy is non-renewable because uranium reserves are finite. Building reactors has massive upfront capital costs, and Decommissioning closed stations is highly expensive. Furthermore, radioactive waste remains hazardous for thousands of years, requiring deep geological storage.
• Disasters: Catastrophic failures have occurred, such as Chernobyl in 1986 (50 direct deaths) and Fukushima in 2011, where a tsunami-induced failure led to the temporary shutdown of all 50 Japanese reactors.

Assessing Non-Renewable Energy (Weighted Judgement)

How do we balance the immediate human need for electricity against the long-term survival of our ecosystems? To effectively assess non-renewables, we must weigh their short-term economic reliability against their long-term environmental damage.

While fossil fuels and nuclear power currently prevent a geographic Mismatch between global energy production (e.g., the Middle East) and consumption (e.g., Europe), their negative impacts are severe. Fossil fuels drive irreversible climate change and habitat destruction, while nuclear power carries extreme disaster risks and unsolved waste issues. Ultimately, while they provide essential energy security and economic growth today, they are environmentally unsustainable in the long term.

Fracking Technology and Energy Supply

Understanding how to extract trapped gas from solid rock explains why the United States suddenly became an energy superpower, meeting 25% of its energy needs through this method by 2015. Fracking (Hydraulic Fracturing) is a technology used to extract Shale Gas from deep underground.

Step-by-step Fracking Process:

1. Vertical Drilling: A well is drilled straight down to a depth of 2-3 km.
2. Horizontal Drilling: The drill turns 90 degrees and drills for 1-1.5 km horizontally through the shale rock layer.
3. Perforation & Injection: A high-pressure fluid mixture (98% water, 0.5% chemicals, and sand) is injected to shatter the impermeable rock.
4. Proppants: The sand grains act as "proppants" that lodge in the newly formed cracks, keeping them open so the trapped methane gas can flow out and up to the surface.

How Fracking Resolves Energy Shortages

A simple chain of events explains how rocks deep underground can help keep the lights on across an entire country. As North Sea oil and gas reserves decline, the UK faces an increasing Energy Gap.

• The Causal Chain for Energy Security:

  • Technology (Fracking) successfully exploits unconventional shale gas.
  • Therefore, this increases the country's domestic energy supply.
  • As a result, it narrows the Energy Gap between supply and demand.
  • Consequently, this reduces dependency on volatile international imports.
  • Ultimately, this increases the nation's Energy Security.

• The UK Context: Fracking began in the UK in 2008 at Preese Hall, Lancashire, tapping into the Bowland Shale. Estimates suggested UK reserves could provide security for 100 years, with the Lancashire site alone worth £6 billion per year. It was also viewed as a "transition fuel," as burning shale gas produces 50% less $CO_2$ than coal. However, a moratorium (ban) was imposed in November 2019 due to the process inducing seismic activity (earthquakes).

Worked Example: Explaining Fracking's Role

Explain how technology such as fracking can resolve energy shortages. (4 marks)

Step 1: Identify the technology and its immediate action.

• Fracking uses high-pressure fluid and horizontal drilling to shatter impermeable rock and release trapped shale gas.

Step 2: Link the action to domestic supply.

• This technology exploits unconventional reserves, directly increasing the UK's domestic energy supply.

Step 3: Link supply to the energy gap.

• By increasing domestic production, fracking narrows the energy gap caused by declining North Sea reserves.

Step 4: Conclude with the final outcome.

• Consequently, this reduces reliance on foreign imports, significantly increasing the country's energy security.