The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security | Edexcel A-Level Geography (9GE0)

The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security

273 questions
21 subtopics
Paper 1: the compulsory physical topics
Paper 1 and Paper 3

Covers carbon as a global system and energy as a strategic resource: the slow and fast carbon cycles, what energy security depends on, the alternatives to fossil fuels, and what human activity is doing to the carbon and water cycles..

It covers carbon stores and fluxes, chemical weathering, carbonate rocks and the slow carbon cycle, biological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle), balanced carbon cycle sustaining earth systems, energy security and measuring energy use, what shapes a country's energy mix, contrasting energy mixes, public perception and OPEC, the players in energy security, and energy pathways, energy pathways and the mismatch between supply and demand, unconventional fossil fuels and their environmental cost, renewables and nuclear: the costs and benefits, biofuels, carbon capture, hydrogen and the uncertainties, land-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cycles, ocean acidification and coral reefs, climate belts, Amazonian drought and ecosystem services, forest loss, the Kuznets curve and consumer attitudes, how warming changes the hydrological cycle, uncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regions, uncertainty, feedback loops and tipping points, adaptation and mitigation strategies and why players disagree, and handling climate data.

Sample questions from The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Carbon stores and fluxes

What are atmospheric carbon stores?

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Carbon held in the atmosphere, primarily as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄).
Biological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle)

In what form can biological carbon be stored in soils?

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In soils, as the dead plant and animal matter that has not yet decomposed.
What shapes a country's energy mix

In what ways does technology affect energy access?

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Technology determines the ability to extract resources, develop alternative energy sources, and improve energy efficiency.
The players in energy security, and energy pathways

Why do energy players often have conflicting interests?

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TNCs seek profit, OPEC manages supply for producer benefit, consumers want low prices, and governments must balance multiple objectives including economic growth, affordability, and environmental protection.
Renewables and nuclear: the costs and benefits

What are the main economic costs associated with nuclear power, and what benefit does it provide in return?

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Economic costs include high construction and decommissioning expenses; the benefit is reliable baseload electricity generation.
Land-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cycles

What are the consequences of reduced evapotranspiration and interception following deforestation for the water cycle?

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Surface runoff increases and local precipitation recycling is reduced, potentially decreasing regional rainfall.
Forest loss, the Kuznets curve and consumer attitudes

What ecosystem services do local communities lose when forests are degraded?

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Communities lose ecosystem services including timber, non-timber forest products, water regulation, soil protection, and cultural or recreational benefits.
Uncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regions

What coastal protection service do mangroves provide?

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Mangroves provide storm surge protection by absorbing wave energy and reducing the height and force of storm surges reaching inland areas.

The 21 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Carbon stores and fluxes	Recall questions on terrestrial, oceanic, atmospheric and geological stores, and on the fluxes between them.	10
Chemical weathering, carbonate rocks and the slow carbon cycle	Recall questions on carbonic acid, silicate weathering, carbonate rock formation and volcanic return.	13
Biological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle)	How phytoplankton sequester carbon and the carbonate pump and thermohaline circulation carry it to the deep ocean, terrestrial primary producers and consumers, carbon in soils and decomposition, and why these biological processes form the fast carbon cycle.	16
Balanced carbon cycle sustaining earth systems	Recall questions on how a balanced cycle regulates the atmosphere, oceans and ecosystems.	15
Energy security and measuring energy use	Recall questions on what energy security means, per capita consumption, energy intensity and the energy mix.	13
What shapes a country's energy mix	Recall questions on physical availability, cost, technology, public perception, development level and environmental priorities.	12
Contrasting energy mixes, public perception and OPEC	Recall questions on the USA and France as contrasting cases, attitudes to nuclear power, and the role of OPEC.	12
The players in energy security, and energy pathways	Recall questions on TNCs, governments and consumers as players, and on why pathways must be secured.	12
Energy pathways and the mismatch between supply and demand	Recall questions on pipelines, shipping routes and chokepoints, and on the risk of depending on one supplier.	13
Unconventional fossil fuels and their environmental cost	Tar sands, oil shale, shale gas and deep water oil, the costs and benefits of developing them, their effects on the carbon cycle and fragile environments, the Canadian tar sands, US shale gas and Brazil's deep water oil as examples, conflict over their development, and continued reliance on fossil fuels.	13
Renewables and nuclear: the costs and benefits	Recall questions on the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of nuclear, wind and solar.	14
Biofuels, carbon capture, hydrogen and the uncertainties	Recall questions on each radical technology, and on the uncertainties over feasibility, cost, scale and infrastructure.	15
Land-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cycles	Recall questions on deforestation, afforestation and farming, and on what they do to evapotranspiration, infiltration and runoff.	17
Ocean acidification and coral reefs	Recall questions on how dissolved carbon dioxide acidifies the ocean, and on what coral reefs provide.	8
Climate belts, Amazonian drought and ecosystem services	Recall questions on shifting climate belts, Amazonian drought and tree mortality, tipping points and the four ecosystem services.	19
Forest loss, the Kuznets curve and consumer attitudes	Recall questions on what forest loss costs, and on what the environmental Kuznets curve proposes.	9
How warming changes the hydrological cycle	Recall questions on evaporation, precipitation, glaciers, permafrost, soil moisture and groundwater under a warming climate.	15
Uncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regions	Recall questions on why projections are uncertain, on ocean warming and deoxygenation, and on which regions are most exposed.	14
Uncertainty, feedback loops and tipping points	Recall questions on carbon sinks, peatland and permafrost feedbacks, forest dieback and thermohaline change.	9
Adaptation and mitigation strategies	Recall questions on water conservation, resilient agriculture, land-use planning and flood management, and on carbon taxation, renewables and afforestation.	11
Why players disagree, and handling climate data	Recall questions on why countries, corporations and individuals take different positions, and on calculating means and rates of change.	13

The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security is 273 of the 3,433 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.