Energy and resources

Preparation and Planning

You will need to ensure you have access to an overhead projector or interactive whiteboard for this lesson as the ability to show slides to the class is important in order to lend colour to the topic.

Three supporting Student Worksheets are supplied for this lesson and will need to be photocopied in advance. Delivery of the activity in which Student Worksheets 3 and 4 are incorporated is recommended in groups of three or four, so one copy per student will not be necessary. The first Student Worksheet 1 has been created for the purposes of assisting students of lower ability and may not be necessary.

Episode 4 would be complemented by access to an ICT suite. However, this facility is not vital to the activity.

About the MOD Topic

MOD development of renewable fuel sources:
Energy and fuel are vital to the Armed Forces in their work worldwide. Consequently the dwindling reserves of non-renewable fuels worldwide is very much a concern. In the US the main strands of research are into nuclear power, synthetic fuels and methane hydrate. The MOD also supports research and development into alternative renewable energy sources, such as: wind power, photo-voltaic power, microbial fuel cells and harvesting sea movement.

Nuclear fuel produces no greenhouse gasses, but concerns over safety and long-term disposal have prevented it from becoming a dominant energy source. Global research into nuclear power is concerned with making it as safe and as environmentally friendly as possible. There is global activity working towards more efficient ways of harnessing nuclear power, for example, using it to produce hydrogen through the electrolysis of water.

The USA are currently leading research into synthetic fuels. The USA have vast reserves of coal and oil shale, which if converted to a synthetic fuel, is predicted to last them for over 300 years at current rates of energy consumption. Oil shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock, which contains enough organic material to yield an energy rich resource upon distillation. The UK has substantial reserves of coal. The synthetic fuel created is not renewable. However, it is easier to process than current fossil fuel forms and its combustion produces substantially fewer emissions.

Methane hydrate, or methane ice is a frozen water that contains a large amount of methane in its crystal structure. There are vast untapped reserves of methane hydrate trapped in ice at depth in certain areas of the World's oceans, particularly along geological faults. The methane is produced by micro-organisms in the Earth's crust and in the sea bed and then is locked in the ice. Research has indicated that the methane may yield hundreds of years worth of energy. However, the dispersal of deposits across sites, and at great depth, makes economically viable extraction difficult. Further research into its mining, detection of reserves and development of the technology for extraction is necessary. As a biological by-product, methane hydrate is fully renewable, although demand may ultimately outstrip supply.

MOD security to oil supplies in the North Sea
The RAF has provided surveillance of the UK's North Sea production facilities as well as response to specific incidents utilising Nimrod aircraft based at RAF Kinloss. Initially designed as an anti-submarine aircraft, the Nimrod uses its modern radar to monitor ship activity over a large area. Operations in the North Sea are conducted in conjunction with the Royal Navy.

Further Opportunities for Learning

There are environmental risks associated with transportation of oil as well as its combustion. Ask students to use the internet to research the Torrey Canyon disaster and to write a short report on the incident and the RAF involvement in the rescue operation. The BBC's 'On this Day' site houses comprehensive information on the subject www.news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday

Students could be asked to say how such a disaster would be dealt with today (e.g. napalm versus detergent).

Ask students to write a short definition or draw an illustration representing each of the items in the word bank on the Student Worksheet.

Ask students to explore ideas around what would happen if we did not have any resources with which to generate energy. What would the personal impacts be on them and their daily lives? Ask students to write a list of impacts (i.e. colder classrooms, walking to school, no holidays abroad). They could present this information in a storyboard or diary format. You may like to prompt their thinking by showing a PowerPoint slide or a worksheet with an imaginary headline (eg: 'fossil fuels run out, the world forced to change').

Ask students to write a letter to the Prime Minister, describing the problem of dwindling reserves of non-renewable resources and suggesting what could be done to mitigate the situation. Letters should be around 150 words in length.

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.