2.4 Conservation and Management of Energy Resources

2026 Syllabus Objectives

By the end of these notes, you should be able to:

  1. Describe and explain strategies for the efficient management of energy resources.
  2. Discuss the research and development of new energy resources.
  3. Apply specific examples including: reducing consumption through insulation, turning electrical devices off, and using energy-efficient devices and vehicles; energy from waste cooking oil; exploiting existing energy sources; education of people for energy conservation; transport policies; and fracking.

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Why Do We Need to Manage Energy Resources?

Most of the energy we use every day comes from fossil fuels — coal, oil, and natural gas. These are non-renewable, which means once they are used up, they cannot be replaced. They took millions of years to form, so we cannot make more of them in a human lifetime.

Burning fossil fuels also releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change — the long-term warming of Earth's climate caused by greenhouse gases trapping heat.

Because of these two problems — running out of fossil fuels and the damage they do to the environment — we need to manage energy resources carefully. This means using less energy where possible, using it more wisely, and finding new ways to produce it.

Strategy 1: Reducing Energy Consumption

Reducing consumption means using less energy in our daily lives. This is one of the simplest and most important strategies. If we use less energy, we burn fewer fossil fuels, save money, and produce less pollution.

There are several key ways to reduce energy consumption:

A) Insulation

Insulation means adding materials to buildings that slow down the flow of heat. Think of it like wrapping a hot drink in a cosy — the heat stays inside for longer.

  • In homes, heat escapes through walls, roofs, floors, and windows.
  • Adding loft insulation (e.g. fibreglass wool in the ceiling space) stops heat rising out through the roof.
  • Adding cavity wall insulation (filling the gap between two layers of brick in a wall) stops heat escaping through the walls.
  • Double-glazed windows have two panes of glass with a gap of air or gas between them. This gap acts as a barrier that reduces heat loss.

Why it matters: A well-insulated home needs less heating in winter and less cooling in summer, so less energy is used overall. This reduces both energy bills and carbon emissions.

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