G4 Sustainable Development

G4: Sustainable Development:

The three legged stool!

WJEC Specification says:

The major focus in all the four themes in G4 is sustainability. There are many definitions of sustainability. Two well-known ones are:

1. The Brundtland Commission, that stated it is ‘ Development which fulfils the needs of the present generation without jeopardising the possibilities of future generations to fulfil their needs.’

2. The Countryside Commission have expanded it to ‘Sustainable development means meeting four objectives, at the same time, in the UK and in the world as a whole.

These are:

• social progress which recognises the needs of everyone;

• effective protection of the environment;

• prudent use of natural resources; and

• maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.’

These and other definitions will all allow candidates to gain full credit.

Theme 1: Sustainable Food Supply

Theme 2: Sustainable Water Supply

	Key Idea 2.1
	Key Idea 2.2
	Key Idea 2.3
	Key Idea 2.4

Theme 3: Sustainable Energy

	Key Idea 3.1
	Key Idea 3.2
	Key Idea 3.3
	Key Idea 3.4

Theme 4: Sustainable Cities

May 2010 Paper - Draft questions to work on (This is only a guide as to the sort of question you may face)

1. Use information from your own studies, and from Figures 1 & 2 of the resource folder, to explain how our energy and water demands may change in the future. [10]

2. Explain how disparities in wealth, and other factors, can influence energy supplies in different countries around the world. [10]

3. Explain why there are concerns over our future energy (and / or water) supplies. [10]

4. Assess the extent to which energy (and/or water) supplies can be increased (or wastage reduced) to make more sustainable use of these resources around the world. [25]

May 2010 Paper - Using the Resource Folder

The Energy Challenge Figure 1 http://www.greenspec.co.uk/documents/drivers/energyreview2006.pdf Read the document. summarise 10 key points.

Botswana Primary Energy graph Figure 3 http://www.iea.org/stats/graphresults.asp?COUNTRY_CODE=BW Look up other countries, Look at other graphs for Botswana.

Botswana - A Pain in the Neck - The Firewood Situation in SW Kgatleg, Botswana http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/u9040e/U9040E11.htm

BOTSWANA The paper is concerned with southwestern Kgatleng, Botswana. Vegetation is a bushland-shrubland mosaic dominated by Acacia species and grass - a vegetation is derived from woodland dominated by Combretum and Digitaria by the burning, ploughing and grazing activities of man. Soil erosion is common, trees are often stunted and bush encroachment is serious. There is substantial labour migration, mainly of men, to Gaborone and South Africa. Most people live off communal land where they carry out mixed subsistence farming with crops and domestic animals.

The collection of domestic wood is carried out by women. The location of fuelwood collection is primarily governed by the sector of the village that the women live in: those from the east side of the village go only east to find wood. Children and old or sick women collect wood from nearer the village. Only dead wood is collected, and only from selected species, although these are becoming increasingly scarce. To discourage rule breaking within the groups that collect firewood, someone among them is selected for their law abiding qualities. Indigenous beliefs protect fruit trees, including Boscia species, which also produce shade and browse.

Between the two villages in the study, firewood supplies are much depleted and people now collect wood from outside their original sectors. Firewood collection rules are now not always adhered to by young people, and, during the last ten years, the distances walked to collect wood has doubled or tripled. The relatively high removal pressure induces a succession from Combretum spp., to thorn bush, to total denudation. There is also commercial firewood collection on this communal land. Boscia species are used for fuelwood, since they are now the only trees left at short distances from the village. The resource is becoming depleted because of over-grazing and the cutting of live trees for building materials and fuel.

http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=2884&title=crisis-context-fuelwood-debate Fuelwood Debate free download

Figure 5 - % households using fuelwood for cooking in Botswana www.cso.gov.bw

MALAYSIA

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jUgTW4wEfngntUCR5lOgxa4Bthww Biofuel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel_policy_of_Malaysia Biofuel

http://my-biodiesel.org/web/ Biofuel

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-24/malaysia-to-make-mandatory-use-of-biofuel-in-june-2011.html Biofuel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakun_Hydroelectric_Power_Station Bakun Project HEP

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/bakun_hydroelectric_project.html Bakun Project HEP - Fiends of the Earth

http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/southeast-asia/bakun-dam-malaysia Bakun Project HEP - International Rivers Organisation

http://www.bakundam.com/home.html Bakun Project HEP - official construction website

http://www.borneoproject.org Borneo Project against Bakun

http://www.borneoproject.org/article.php?id=796 Borneo Project article - 12 more dams - deal with China.

http://suarampg.blogspot.com/2008/01/bakun-damn.html mentions aluminium smelting (and other issues)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_France

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf40.html resource 14 extended

www.carbonneutralnewcastle.com/energy/advanatges.php figure 15 limited

www.dailytemperaturecycle.com/index.htm figure 16

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4468076.stm figure 17 very good resource

www.carbonneutral.com/pages/climatechange.asp figure 18 - good leads to carbon offset case studies.

http://timeforchange.org/pros-and-cons-of-nuclear-power-and-sustainability biased source - anti nuclear. Will uranium reserves run out in 60 years? Figure 19

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_mining

www.world-nuclear.org/reference/howard_170706.html figure 21 broader – hypocritical if Australia sells uranium top other countries but won’t use it themselves.

http://www.sandrp.in/dams/India_Dams_Methane_Emissions_PR180507 figure 22