Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management: Energy Management, New Energy Resources and Fracking (0680)

Sub-topics 1.5 and 1.6 of Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management (0680) ask how countries and households can manage energy resources so that supply lasts and environmental damage falls, and whether fracking is a good way to obtain more natural gas and oil. You need to describe eight named management strategies and four new energy resources, define fracking exactly as the syllabus does, and discuss the benefits and limitations of each. The rest of Topic 1 (rocks, minerals and energy resources) is in the Natural Resources study guide.

Where this fits in 0680

Topic 1 Natural resources has six sub-topics for examination in 2027, 2028 and 2029. Sub-topic 1.4 classifies energy resources and explains how they generate electricity; 1.5 turns to managing demand and developing new resources; 1.6 deals with one controversial way of extending fossil fuel supply. Expect “describe” questions on named strategies and “discuss the benefits and limitations” questions, often based on a source such as a graph of energy use or a map of a proposed fracking site.

Syllabus coverage

CAMBRIDGE IGCSE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (0680) — 1.5 AND 1.6

• 1.5.1 Strategies for managing energy resources: reducing consumption; insulation; energy-efficient devices including vehicles and electrically propelled vehicles; exploiting existing energy resources; education on energy conservation; transport policies; battery storage; development of new energy resources
• 1.5.2 New energy resources: blue hydrogen fuel (produced from natural gas); green hydrogen fuel (produced using renewable resources); ground source heat pumps; air source heat pumps
• 1.5.3 Benefits and limitations of these strategies
• 1.6.1 Fracking defined as the extraction of natural gas or petroleum from shale rock by hydraulic fracturing
• 1.6.2 Benefits and limitations of fracking

How can energy resources be managed?

Managing energy means meeting demand while using finite resources more slowly and reducing pollution. The syllabus names eight strategies.

Strategy	What it involves	Benefit	Limitation
Reducing consumption	Switching off lights and devices, lowering thermostats, using less hot water	Cheap or free; immediate savings	Relies on people changing habits
Insulation	Loft and cavity wall insulation, double glazing, draught-proofing	Cuts heat loss, so less fuel is burned for heating	Up-front cost; harder to fit in older buildings
Energy-efficient devices	LED bulbs, efficient appliances, fuel-efficient and electrically propelled vehicles	Same service for less energy; electric vehicles produce no exhaust emissions in use	Higher purchase price; electric vehicles are only as clean as the electricity used to charge them
Exploiting existing energy resources	Making fuller and more efficient use of resources already available, such as reserves in existing fields or efficient power stations	Uses infrastructure already built	Extends fossil fuel use and its emissions
Education on energy conservation	Campaigns, school programmes, energy labels on appliances	Low cost; changes long-term behaviour	Effects are slow and hard to measure
Transport policies	Better public transport, cycle lanes, car sharing, congestion charges	Reduces fuel use and urban air pollution	Expensive to build; unpopular charges
Battery storage	Storing surplus electricity, especially from solar and wind	Solves part of the intermittency problem of renewables	Batteries are costly and need mined materials
Development of new energy resources	Investing in hydrogen and heat pumps (below)	Reduces reliance on fossil fuels	Research and new infrastructure are expensive

What are the new energy resources?

Blue and green hydrogen

Hydrogen releases energy when burned or used in a fuel cell, and the only product of using it is water. The syllabus distinguishes two ways of producing it:

• Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas. The process releases carbon dioxide, which must be captured and stored for the hydrogen to count as low-carbon. Benefit: uses existing gas supplies and infrastructure. Limitation: still depends on a fossil fuel, and carbon capture is costly and not fully effective.
• Green hydrogen is produced using renewable resources, by using renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Benefit: very low emissions across the whole process. Limitation: currently expensive, and needs large amounts of renewable electricity.

Both types are hard to store and transport because hydrogen is a very light, flammable gas.

Ground and air source heat pumps

• A ground source heat pump transfers heat from the ground, through pipes buried in a garden or borehole, to heat a building. The ground stays at a fairly steady temperature, so output is reliable.
• An air source heat pump transfers heat from the outside air to heat a building, even in cool weather.

Benefits: they deliver more heat energy than the electrical energy they use, and produce no emissions on site. Limitations: high installation cost, ground source systems need space for digging, and they work best in well-insulated buildings. Unlike geothermal power stations, heat pumps work anywhere, not only in tectonically active regions.

What is fracking?

The syllabus defines fracking as the extraction of natural gas or petroleum from shale rock by hydraulic fracturing. A well is drilled down and then horizontally through the shale layer. Fluid made mainly of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, is pumped in at very high pressure, cracking the rock. The sand holds the cracks open, and gas or oil trapped in the shale flows up the well. Shale is impermeable (see 1.1), which is why the gas cannot escape without fracturing.

Benefits and limitations of fracking

Benefits	Limitations
Increases domestic supply, improving energy security and reducing imports	Still a fossil fuel, so it adds carbon dioxide and delays the move to renewables
Creates jobs and tax revenue	Can cause small earthquakes (induced seismicity)
Gas replacing coal in power stations lowers carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions	Risk of groundwater contamination from fracking fluids or leaking wells
Can lower energy prices where production is large	Uses very large volumes of water; wastewater must be treated
Can use existing gas pipelines	Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, can leak; noise, lorry traffic and visual impact for local communities

In England, the government introduced a moratorium on fracking in 2019 after tremors at a site in Lancashire, an example of how the limitations can outweigh the benefits in public decisions.

Worked example

A source shows that a country imports most of its gas and has large shale deposits under farmland near a town. Discuss whether it should allow fracking.

Benefits    energy security, fewer imports, jobs, gas instead of coal
Limitations earthquakes, groundwater risk near farms and town,
            water use, methane leaks, still a fossil fuel
Judgement   weigh local risks against national benefit; strict regulation,
            monitoring, or investing instead in 1.5 strategies

A full-mark answer uses the source details (farmland, town) and reaches a judgement.

Common mistakes

• Defining fracking loosely as “drilling for gas” without shale rock and hydraulic fracturing.
• Mixing up blue hydrogen (from natural gas) and green hydrogen (from renewable resources).
• Calling heat pumps geothermal power stations.
• Listing strategies without a benefit and a limitation when the question says “discuss”.
• Saying electric vehicles produce no pollution at all.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between blue and green hydrogen? Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, with the carbon dioxide ideally captured and stored. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable resources, by splitting water with renewable electricity.

How does a heat pump save energy? It transfers existing heat from the ground or air into a building rather than generating heat by burning fuel, so it provides more heat energy than the electricity it uses.

Why is fracking controversial? It increases gas and oil supply and energy security, but it can trigger small earthquakes, risks contaminating groundwater, uses large amounts of water and keeps the economy dependent on fossil fuels.

Quick revision checklist

• Name and explain the eight strategies in 1.5.1 with a benefit and limitation for each.
• Describe blue hydrogen, green hydrogen, ground source and air source heat pumps.
• State the syllabus definition of fracking and describe the process.
• Discuss at least three benefits and three limitations of fracking.

Related: Energy management and fracking revision notes | Natural resources practice questions

Official syllabus

Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management (0680) syllabus for examination 2027, 2028 and 2029 — cambridgeinternational.org.