Impacts of Energy Resources

Environmental Impacts of Energy Resources

Energy resources are essential for modern life, but extracting and using them can cause severe environmental impacts. These impacts vary depending on whether the resource is non-renewable or renewable.

Impacts of Mining and Drilling (Non-Renewable Energy)

Mining and drilling are used to extract fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. These processes can cause a wide range of environmental problems:

Landscape scarring

• Open-cast coal mines leave huge scars on the landscape.
• Mining can result in the destruction of natural landforms, making areas less attractive and reducing tourism.
• Abandoned mines may also cause soil erosion and water pollution.

Oil spills

• Oil can leak during drilling or from tankers transporting fuel.
• Example: the Deepwater Horizon disaster (2010) spilt millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, killing marine life and damaging coasts.
• Oil smothers birds’ feathers, poisons fish, and can destroy sensitive ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs.

Carbon emissions

• Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄), which are greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
• Power stations and vehicle exhausts also release other pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain, damaging forests and rivers.

Removal of forests

• To reach coal, oil or gas deposits, forests are often cleared.
• Deforestation reduces biodiversity, disrupts ecosystems and contributes to global warming because fewer trees are available to absorb CO₂.
• Example: Amazon rainforest areas have been cleared for oil drilling and mining projects.

Key point: Non-renewable resource extraction often has long-lasting and global-scale impacts on the environment.

Landscape Impacts of Renewable Energy

Although renewable energy is more sustainable and produces little or no greenhouse gases, it can still have significant environmental and landscape impacts.

Hydroelectric Power (HEP)

• Building dams floods valleys, submerging farmland, habitats, and sometimes whole communities.
• Example: the Three Gorges Dam in China flooded over 600 km² of land and displaced 1.3 million people.
• Dams also disrupt river ecosystems, blocking fish migration and altering water quality.

Wind turbines

• Wind farms often require large areas of land, changing the appearance of natural landscapes.
• Some people argue they spoil views, especially in scenic areas such as national parks or coastal regions.
• Turbines can harm bird and bat populations, though the overall impact is small compared to habitat loss from fossil fuel extraction.
• Noise pollution can also be an issue for people living nearby.

Solar farms

• Large solar arrays take up significant amounts of land.
• They can compete with agriculture (food vs energy production).
• In desert regions, solar farms may disturb fragile ecosystems.
• Example: in the UK, debate exists about using farmland for solar farms instead of food crops.

Key point: Renewable energy avoids greenhouse gas emissions but still has localised environmental and landscape costs.