1a) Explain the classification of the selected energy resources shown.

This resource shows the environmental impacts, social acceptability and economic costs of a select few energy sources. They are classified in this way for a number of reasons.

Nuclear power is shown to have high economic costs, this is because it is very expensive to build and decommission nuclear power stations, it also an expensive process to mine, process and enrich uranium and plutonium required as nuclear fuel. Nuclear waste must also be stored for a very long period adding to the cost. Nuclear has medium environmental impacts due to the energy required to mine transport and process nuclear fuels creating CO2 emissions, and nuclear waste can be hazardous and harmful to the environment if not properly stored, as it can be hazardous and prone to disasters it also has very low social acceptability.

Coal is the most abundant, easily mined fossil fuel, it is also very cheap to set up coal fired power stations, this means it has very low economic costs. It produces large volumes of CO2 and other dirtier greenhouse gases and a pollutant meaning it has very high environmental impacts. It also has high social acceptability as it is cheap, not dangerous and not power plants are in industrial areas away from homes so it has limited NIMBY issues and noise, light and visual pollution.

Wind power has medium social acceptability due to its noisiness and ugliness and positioning near residential areas causing NIMBY issues, however it is popular to some as it is a renewable and green energy source, this means it has low environmental impacts. It has medium economic cost as each turbine costs a lot and only produces a little amount of energy, however it is almost free to run after start up costs.

Biofuels have high social acceptability, low cost and low environmental impacts because they are