Chapter 02

Energy & the Environment

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Environmental
Management
 Agenda
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 Energy Demand
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 3 basic reasons for increasing world energy demand:

1. Growing world population (especially during the second half of the 20th
century; today over 7 billion; estimated to reach above 9 billion by 2050) ,
increasing domestic and industrial demand

2. Higher levels of economic development (Industrial Revolution; in the last

50 years fastest rates of economic development have been seen in Asia.
Variety and diversity of manufactured goods have increased dramatically/
Consumer Revolution), accompanied by increased personal wealth

3. Advances in transport technology (private cars/ trucks/ aeroplanes,

container ships etc.)
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 As personal wealth has increased, first in the countries of developed world and now increasingly
in the countries
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Homes in the developed world are full of electrical and electronic goods. Private car ownership
increases with more family wealth; cars use more energy per person than buses/trains
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More transportation options/advances; more use of
energy
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Factors affecting variations in energy demand

 Energy use per head is regarded as a reliable indicator of a country’s

level of economic development

 More people in richer countries can afford cars and electronic goods
than those in poorer countries (their personal wealth is higher)

 However, not everyone in a MEDC is rich, nor all people in a LEDC are
poor.
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 In Canada and USA, consumption of energy per person is

double than that in Europe.

 The climate helps to explain this

 N. America huge seasonal differences in weather, very cold

winters (much heating needed), very hot summers (air
conditioning considered a necessity)

 Seasonal variations in temperature in Europe are considered

less extreme

 E.g. Oil rich Gulf states; UAE and Qatar

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Questions?