Resource futures — AQA A-Level Geography
Test yourself on Resource futures with AQA A-Level practice questions.
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Resource futures explained
Resource futures examine how technological, economic, environmental and political developments can reshape the future supply, demand and management of energy, water and mineral ores.
Read the full explanation
Across section 3.2.5, students engage with themes relating to all three resource groups; the specification permits a case study to concentrate on one, but the Resource futures statement itself names energy, water and mineral ore futures. Technologies such as desalination, renewable energy, recycling and new extraction can expand or substitute supply but create costs and environmental trade-offs. Prices, investment and changing demand affect viability; regulation, international agreements, conflict and resource nationalism affect access. For example, electric-vehicle growth raises demand for battery minerals while carbon policy changes energy investment and may alter future water demands.
Your focus
- Analyse alternative futures for energy, water, and mineral ores.
- Evaluate the impact of technological and economic developments on resource availability.
- Assess how environmental and political factors shape future resource security.
Resource futures exam tips
Marking Points
- Identify specific technological advancements altering resource availability, such as hydraulic fracturing or large-scale desalination.
- Explain how economic developments, such as changing global demand or investment costs, influence resource futures.
- Evaluate the environmental impacts of pursuing alternative resource futures, including climate change mitigation or ecological damage.
- Analyse the role of political developments, such as treaties, conflicts, or national policies, in shaping resource security.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Use specific, contemporary examples of technological developments, such as hydrogen fuel cells or rare earth metal recycling, to support your arguments.
- 💡When discussing political developments, reference specific policies, geopolitical tensions, or international agreements like the Paris Agreement.
- 💡Structure essay responses using the STEEP (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political) framework to ensure comprehensive coverage of the developments.
Common Mistakes
- Focusing only on the resource chosen for a case study and ignoring the wider Resource futures statement. Correction: distinguish the permission to concentrate a case study on one resource from the requirement to understand alternative futures across energy, water and mineral ores.
- Treating technological, economic, environmental, and political factors in isolation. Correction: Highlight the complex intersections between these developments, such as how political subsidies make new technologies economically viable.
- Assuming 'alternative futures' only means renewable resources. Correction: Recognise that alternative futures also include unconventional fossil fuels, deep-water mineral extraction, or large-scale water transfers.