New Geography in Action Junior Cycle Geography ACT VITY
With your classmates, research the Corrib gas field online. Write down three positive and three negative effects that the building of the plant has had on the community. Present your findings to the class, then take a class vote on the question: Should the plant have been built? Record the results of the vote using a pie chart.
Coal
While our dependency on coal is constantly declining, 10 per cent of our energy still comes from coal. It is a solid fuel used to heat many homes. The ESB runs a coal-powered station in Moneypoint on the Shannon Estuary in Co. Clare. The station burns imported coal for the production of electricity.
ACT VITY
Watch the video at https://educateplus.ie/go/ china-coal to see how China is trying to reduce its reliance on coal. Write down two interesting facts you learned while watching this video. Share them with your partner.
Peat
Peat is a fuel made of decayed plants and other organic matter found in bogs. Peat has been an important source of heating and energy in Ireland for hundreds of years. While the commercial exploitation of peat is being phased out, it is still an important energy source in the raised bogs of the west coast of Ireland. In Ireland, 5.5 per cent of our energy comes from peat.
Go to Chapter 16, pages 298–299, to learn more about the sustainable exploitation of peat in Ireland.
Ordnance Survey maps and non-renewable
energy resources We can identify power stations using non-renewable energy resources on Ordnance Survey maps by the symbol on the right:
: Figure 5.15 Power station on an OS map
(i) List three non-renewable energy resources. (ii) What fossil fuels do we have naturally in Ireland? (iii) What is the disadvantage of not having natural resources such as oil located in Ireland?
/ I can describe the different types of non-renewable resources.
/ I understand the role non-renewable resources have to play in generating energy both in Ireland and abroad.
/ I can identify non-renewable energy sources on Ordnance Survey maps. 76
