Topic 9: 9.4 The world’s continuing reliance of fossil fuels increases pressure to exploit new areas — Edexcel GCSE Geography B
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Topic 9: 9.4 The world’s continuing reliance of fossil fuels increases pressure to exploit new areas explained
Topic 9: 9.4 The world’s continuing reliance of fossil fuels increases pressure to exploit new areas covers 2 specification points, including A.
Read the full explanation
Economic benefits and costs of developing… and B. Environmental costs (negative impacts on…. Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
a. Economic benefits and costs of developing new conventional oil and gas sources in ecologically-sensitive and isolated areas.
This statement asks you to weigh the economic benefits and costs of developing new conventional oil and gas sources in ecologically-sensitive and isolated areas. Benefits include government revenue from taxes and royalties, jobs in exploration and construction, and greater energy security for importing countries. Costs include very high infrastructure and transport expense in remote places, exposure to volatile prices and spending on safeguards. For example, consider an Arctic offshore field: jobs and tax income set against pipelines across fragile tundra and spill risk to a fishery. Link each economic point to the isolation or sensitivity of the place, not general oil economics.
b. Environmental costs (negative impacts on water quality and ecosystems) of developing new unconventional oil and gas sources (tar sands, shale gas) in ecologically-sensitive and isolated areas.
This statement covers environmental costs, specifically negative impacts on water quality and ecosystems, of developing new unconventional oil and gas sources such as tar sands and shale gas in ecologically-sensitive and isolated areas. Tar sands extraction uses large volumes of water and can leave tailings ponds that may leak contaminants into nearby waters. Shale gas development uses hydraulic fracturing, which risks contaminating groundwater through chemicals and wastewater. Ecosystem impacts include habitat clearance and disturbance to wildlife where species recover slowly. Name the pathway for each impact and explain why isolation makes it harder to reverse.
Your focus
- Identify two economic benefits of developing a conventional oil or gas field in an isolated area.
- Identify two economic costs linked to developing a conventional oil or gas field in an ecologically-sensitive area.
- Explain how the isolation or sensitivity of a location changes an economic cost of conventional development.
Show all 6 objectives
- Name two negative impacts on water quality from tar sands or shale gas development.
- Explain how a specific extraction method causes an ecosystem impact in an isolated area.
- Distinguish environmental costs from economic costs in a short written response.
Topic 9: 9.4 The world’s continuing reliance of fossil fuels increases pressure to exploit new areas exam tips
Marking Points
- Identifies a specific economic benefit, such as government revenue from taxes or royalties.
- Identifies a specific economic cost linked to a remote or sensitive location, such as high pipeline or transport expense.
- Links each economic point to the named ecologically-sensitive or isolated setting rather than to oil economics in general.
- Explains the mechanism connecting an economic effect to the place, such as how remoteness raises construction and maintenance costs.
- Recognises that benefits may accrue nationally while costs fall on local communities or ecosystems.
- Identifies a negative impact on water quality, such as contamination from tailings ponds or fracturing wastewater.
- Identifies a negative impact on ecosystems, such as habitat clearance or disturbance to wildlife.
- Links each impact to the extraction method used for tar sands or shale gas.
- Explains why isolation or ecological sensitivity makes the impact slower to recover from.
- Distinguishes environmental costs from economic costs within the response.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Revise one named example of a conventional field in an isolated or sensitive area so you can apply economic points quickly.
- 💡When choosing an answer, check whether it refers to both an economic benefit or cost and the location described in the question.
- 💡Eliminate options that describe unconventional extraction such as tar sands or shale gas when the question concerns conventional sources.
- 💡Structure each answer as method, pollutant or disturbance, receiving environment, then why isolation matters.
- 💡Name a specific ecosystem type, such as boreal forest or wetland, where it strengthens the point.
- 💡Show balance by stating the level of risk and its conditions rather than claiming certainty.
Common Mistakes
- Describes oil economics in general without relating it to the isolated or sensitive area; anchor every economic point to the specific location.
- Lists benefits only and ignores costs; weigh both sides of the economic argument.
- Assumes all benefits are local; separate national revenue from impacts on nearby communities.
- Confuses conventional with unconventional sources; keep the response to conventional oil and gas fields.
- Treats tar sands and shale gas as identical; state the extraction method used for each.
- Describes greenhouse gas emissions only; keep the focus on water quality and ecosystems as the statement requires.
- Gives economic costs such as price volatility; redirect the answer to environmental impacts.
- Asserts that fracking always contaminates groundwater; state that the risk depends on well integrity and site geology.