Resource Management

Resource Management

1. Water

   • Needs (UK)
     • Domestically (drink, clean, 21.7%)
     • Industrial (75.4% total)
     • Agricultural (2.9%)
   • Insecurity and distribution
     • Physical factors
       • Climate - most places rely on rainfall which feeds lakes and rivers
       • Geology - when rain falls on impermeable rock, it flows off into rivers and lakes. When rain falls on permeable rock, it flows through them and forms hard to reach water stores
     • Economic and Social Factors
       • Over-abstraction - when more water is being used than replenished
         • Population growth
         • Improvements in sanitation
         • High demand from business and industry
       • Pollution of water sources (NEEs like India + China)
       • Limited infrastructure (rapid urbanisation)
     • Impacts of
       • Pollution and disease
       • Decreased food production
       • Decreased industrial output
       • Conflict
         • If one country tries to improve its water security by taking more water from a river, it can reduce the water security of countries downstream
   • Increasing Water Supply
     • Water Transfer
       • From an area of surplus to an area of deficit
       • WT can reduce water insecurity but cause massive EES problems
     • Dams and Reservoirs
       • Stores water during surplus, then delivers when there's demand
       • Can be expensive to move water from reservoirs
       • Can cause conflict over land use - flood agricultural land - can flood settlements
     • Desalination
       • Very expensive, usually powered via fossil fuels
       • Only really used in wealth desert countries (UAE)
       • Provides potable water reliably
   • Sustainable water supply
     • Water conservation (using less water)
       • Fixing leaks in reservoirs/pipes
       • More efficient agricultural methods (drip pipe irrigation)
       • Fitting homes and businesses with water meters
     • Ground water management
       • To prevent contamination farmers can be encouraged to apply less artificial fertiliser and pesticides
       • Monitoring can ensure a constant level
     • Recycling and "grey water"
       • Taking water that has already been used and treating it to be used in agriculture or industry. More sustainable as less water is then need from rivers.
       • Grey water is water than is reused immediately rather than being treated
         • Water from sinks and showers eg
   • China SNWTP
     • $62 billion cost
     • Advantages
       • Provides water to people, industry and agriculture
     • Disadvantages
       • Large areas of land has been flooded
         • Ecosystems and agricultural land destroyed. 345,000 people forced to relocate. Many received little compensation and are now unemployed
       • Very expensive
         • Only supplies water to urban areas which can afford it. The urban poor and rural areas have little to no access to it
       • Water stress in the south has reduced supply
         • Still not enough water for pop.

2. Energy

   • The UK's energy mix has changed (since 1960)
     • Reducing coal supplies in the UK, so less
       • All coal power stations to shut by 2025
     • Large north sea gas reserves caused an increase
     • Introduction of nuclear in 1990
     • More renewable sources (wind and bioenergy)
   • UK fossil fuels are running out
     • North sea oil and gas reserves are being rapidly used up and production is declining
     • The use of shale gas extracted via fracking is being considered and tested in some parts of the UK
   • Issues from Energy Source exploitation
     • Economic
       • Extracting fossil fuels can be expensive and with rising prices the north sea may no longer be profitable
       • The cost of renewables are still quite high
       • Many renewable sources don't produce a reliable enough output to be completely relied upon
     • Environmental
       • Burning fossil fuels released CO2 and other greenhouse gases
       • Fracking may pollute groundwater and cause mini-earthquakes
         • Some people are campaigning for a ban
       • Accidents like oil spills can leak toxic chemicals into the environment

3. Food

   • Seasonal Food
     • The demand for food which is not available in the UK has increased since 1960
       • Possible with improvements in transport and refridgeration
       • Exotic/expensive
         • Seasonal food
     • Organic produce has become increasingly popular as people have become more conserned with chemicals in the food and the environment - product grown to ethics standards
   • Carbon Footprint of Food is Growing
     • The process of growing processing and backing produces CO2 and other green house gasses
     • 9% of total greenhouse emissions is directly from food
     • Transporting food also produces CO2. The distance food is transported to the market is called air miles
     • Imported seasonal food have more food miles - so they are worse for the environment
   • Farming is becoming more industrialised
     • More large firms (agribusinesses) have been controlling the exact processes and production of seeds etc
     • UK farm sizes have been increasing - many small farms have been taken over and field sizes increased so that food can be produced more cheaply
     • The amount of chemicals used in foods are increasing - large quanities of fertilisers and pesticides