AQA Physics 6.1.3
Energy resources
Nine resources power transport, electricity and heating. Sort them twice: will they run out, and can you rely on them? Then read how a country’s mix changes.
Triple Science · Foundation tier
Start here
A phone charging at 2 a.m.
It is the middle of the night: dark, and completely still, with no wind at all. A phone plugged into the wall is still charging.
If you had to guess, where is most of that electricity coming from?
Nine resources · two questions
Will it run out? Can you rely on it?
A renewable resource is one that is being, or can be, replenished as it is used. A non-renewable resource will run out. A reliable resource can be used whenever it is needed, or at times you can predict. Pick a card, then place it.
Fossil fuels
0 of 9 placed
We use these resources for transport (mostly oil-based fuels, some bio-fuel and electricity), for generating electricity, and for heating (mostly gas, some electricity, some geothermal and solar).
Patterns and trends · reading a chart
How one country’s electricity mix changed.
This country is made up and its figures are not real data. Exams give you a chart like this one and ask you to describe the trend, then explain it. Tap a year to read its bar.
2020: coal 2% · gas 36% · nuclear 16% · wind and solar 30% · hydro and bio-fuel 16%
Describe, then explain
- Coal fell from 35% to 2%: burning coal releases carbon dioxide, and the country chose to cut its emissions.
- Wind and solar rose from 1% to 30%: they release no carbon dioxide while running.
- Gas stayed large: it can be used on demand when the wind drops or it is dark.
What science can and can’t do
Science can identify environmental problems, such as the carbon dioxide from burning coal. It does not always have the power to deal with them: whether to close a power station, or build a wind farm, is also decided by political, social, ethical and economic considerations.
Think again · low carbon or renewable
“Nuclear power is renewable, because it doesn’t make carbon dioxide.”
Your call
ChooseIs nuclear fuel a renewable resource?
Sort
Every resource has an impact.
Place each impact with the resource it belongs to.
Tap a card, then tap the box it belongs in. Tap a placed card to take it back.
Command words in this lesson
- Describe
- Say what the chart shows, with numbers from it.
- Explain
- Give the reason: renewable or not, reliable or not, and the impact.
- Evaluate
- Points for and against each resource, then a judgement with a reason.
Key fact
Fossil fuels and nuclear fuel are non-renewable. Bio-fuel, wind, hydro-electricity, geothermal, the tides, the Sun and water waves are renewable. Every resource has some environmental impact.
Key note · AQA 6.1.3
Energy resources
- Main resources: fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas), nuclear fuel, bio-fuel, wind, hydro-electricity, geothermal, the tides, the Sun and water waves.
- Renewable: being, or can be, replenished as it is used. Fossil fuels and nuclear fuel are non-renewable.
- Uses: transport, electricity generation and heating.
- Reliable: fossil fuels, nuclear, bio-fuel, hydro-electricity and geothermal on demand; the tides at predictable times. Wind, the Sun and waves depend on the weather.
- Every resource has some environmental impact, renewables included.
- Science can identify environmental issues, but political, social, ethical and economic considerations decide what is done.
Photograph this card. Tomorrow, cover it and say each line first.
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Not sure if a resource is reliable?
The electricity-mix chart is for a made-up country, for practice; it is not real data.