Energy and conservation

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Slide 1

Energy and conservation

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What are our main energy sources?

Industrialised countries need large amounts of energy

Most of this energy comes form fossil fuels which are burnt in power stations, factories, homes and vehicles

These fossil fuels formed millions of years ago, and are non-renewable

Once the fossil fuels have been used up there will be no more to replace them

Slide 3

Oil is useful for other things too

Oil is a mixture of different compounds

We can separate these substances by a process called fractional distillation

These fractions include fuels like petrol, diesel and aviation fuel

Parts of oil are also used to make plastics, medicines, paints, dyes and even wax candles

Slide 4

Problems with burning fossil fuels

Huge amounts of carbon dioxide are given off into the atmosphere

Carbon dioxide causes global warming or the greenhouse effect

coal-burning power stations also give off sulphur dioxide gas which leads to acid rain

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What is the greenhouse effect?

Carbon dioxide gas acts like the glass in a greenhouse

Infrared radiation from the Sun is usually reflected back into space

Greenhouse gases stop this, and heat is reflected back to the Earth again

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What are the problems with global warming?

The average temperature of the Earth will rise

This can lead to droughts

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Extremes of weather will occur hurricanes and storms

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The increase in temperature will speed up the melting of the polar ice caps

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Global warming will therefore lead to floods

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So all this burning of fossil fuels leading to an Earth that is suffering form many environmental problems

Slide 12

Other problems from the pollution from burning fossil fuels

Lead poisoning has been shown to affect the development and progress of children living near motorways