AP Environmental Science - 6.4 Distribution of Natural Energy Resources

Which of the following is FALSE?

• Oil reserves will last us about 200 years and are located primarily in India and Australia.

• Natural Gas reserves will last us about 50-60 years and are primarily located in Russia, Iran, Qatar and the United States.

• Coal reserves will last us between 100 and 150 years and are primarily located in the United States, Russia, and China.

• Australia has the largest reserves of uranium. 

Which of the following is FALSE?

• Methods like fracking and harvesting tar sands turn fossil fuels from a non-renewable to a renewable resource.

• Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing and is a way of getting natural gas from semi-permeable sedimentary rocks like shale.

• Fossil fuels provide an economic benefit for countries, motivating them to search for and recover them. 

• Tar sands allow us to recover bitumen, but require larger amounts of water and energy to recover them when compared to other forms of crude oil.