Managing energy and new energy resources Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management revision
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In plain words
The cheapest unit of energy is the one you never use. Managing energy starts with wasting less, and then moves on to cleaner ways of supplying what is left.
10 things to know
- Reducing consumption: switching off lights and machines, turning heating down, and using less hot water.
- Insulation: insulating roofs and walls, and fitting double glazing, cuts the loss of heat from a building, so less energy is needed to heat it.
- Energy-efficient devices do the same job with less energy, for example LED lamps. Efficient vehicles go further on the same fuel. Electrically propelled vehicles give out no exhaust gases, although they are only as clean as the electricity that charges them.
- Exploiting existing energy resources means getting more from what is already there, such as burning household waste to generate electricity, or making biogas from sewage and food waste.
- Education on energy conservation shows people how and why to save energy. Labels on appliances show how efficient each one is.
- Transport policies: cheap public transport, cycle lanes, car sharing, charges for driving into city centres, and support for electric vehicles.
- Battery storage: batteries store electricity when supply is greater than demand and release it later. That makes wind and solar power more dependable. Batteries are costly, and they need mined metals.
- Blue hydrogen fuel is produced from natural gas. Green hydrogen fuel is produced using renewable resources, for example by using renewable electricity to split water. When hydrogen is used as a fuel, the only product is water.
- A ground source heat pump transfers heat from the ground into a building to heat it. An air source heat pump transfers heat from the outside air. Both run on electricity, and both deliver more heat than the electrical energy they use.
- Limitations. Hydrogen is costly to make, store and move, and blue hydrogen depends on a fossil fuel. Heat pumps are costly to fit. People are slow to change their habits.
Worked example
A family wants lower heating bills. Compare insulating the roof with fitting an air source heat pump.
- Insulation reduces the heat lost, so less heating is needed. It is fairly cheap and works for decades.
- A heat pump supplies heat efficiently by moving it in from the outside air. It costs much more to buy.
- Insulate first: a heat pump works best in a house that already holds its heat.
Tips and tricks
- Blue hydrogen comes from natural gas. Green hydrogen is made using renewable resources. The colour describes how it was made, not what it looks like.
- A heat pump does not make heat. It moves heat that is already in the ground or the air.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Managing energy and new energy resources: 6 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
What is blue hydrogen produced from?
Green hydrogen is the one made using renewable resources.
Where does a ground source heat pump take heat from?
Pipes buried in the ground collect the heat.
What does insulation do?
Less heat lost means less heating needed.
Which is a transport policy for saving energy?
One bus replaces many cars.
Why does battery storage make solar power more useful?
Storage moves energy from when it is made to when it is needed.
Hydrogen is burned as a fuel. What is produced?Stretch
Hydrogen joins with oxygen to make water, and nothing else.
Quiz
6 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 7 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Managing energy and new energy resources
Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management 0680 · 7 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
Explain how insulating a house reduces energy use.[2]
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Insulation reduces the loss of heat through the roof and walls. Less fuel or electricity is then needed to keep the house warm.
Describe the difference between blue hydrogen and green hydrogen.[2]
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Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable resources.
Explain how battery storage helps a country that uses wind power.[3]
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Wind power is unreliable, because output falls when the wind drops. Batteries store electricity when more is generated than is needed. They release it when demand is higher than supply.
Answers: Managing energy and new energy resources
- 1. Insulation reduces the loss of heat through the roof and walls. Less fuel or electricity is then needed to keep the house warm.
- 2. Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable resources.
- 3. Wind power is unreliable, because output falls when the wind drops. Batteries store electricity when more is generated than is needed. They release it when demand is higher than supply.