Resources in the UK: energy

Accept the letter or the option written out; do not accept more than one answer.

max 2; 1 mark for each different issue

Accept positive issues only if clearly environmental, e.g. low carbon emissions / no air pollution when operating.

Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): the southern North Sea (e.g. Dogger Bank) is shallow, so turbines can be fixed to the seabed cheaply, even far offshore; winds are strong and consistent over the sea with no obstacles; the east coast is near large markets for electricity (London, Yorkshire, the Midlands) and connections to the National Grid, sometimes at the sites of old coal power stations; ports such as Hull and Grimsby provide bases for building and maintaining turbines; locations offshore reduce visual and noise impacts on people; farms avoid busy shipping lanes and the deep water of the Atlantic; the Irish Sea is also shallow and close to Liverpool and Manchester; few off western Scotland or south-west England because the water is deeper and more exposed to Atlantic storms, making construction harder and more expensive (although floating turbines such as Hywind off Aberdeen are now used in deeper water).

Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): Hinkley Point C, Somerset (being built by EDF) - two reactors expected to supply about 7% of UK electricity (enough for around 6 million homes) for about 60 years; reliable baseload supply that is not affected by the weather, improving energy security and reducing gas imports. Economic - cost has risen to over 30 billion pounds and completion has been delayed from the mid-2020s to around 2030 or later; the government guaranteed a high price for its electricity (92.50 pounds per MWh in 2012 prices) for 35 years, paid through bills; thousands of construction jobs and about 900 permanent jobs; boost to local businesses in Somerset (housing, shops, suppliers); some investment came from China, which raised security concerns. Environmental - very low carbon emissions (about 12 g per kWh), helping the UK reach net zero; radioactive waste stays dangerous for thousands of years and the UK has no permanent disposal site yet; risk of accidents (e.g. Fukushima, Japan, 2011), although rare; cooling water taken from the Severn estuary could kill large numbers of fish; construction affected the landscape and brought heavy traffic. Credit Sizewell C (Suffolk) or other appropriate named examples.