Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460): Theme 3.5 – Energy – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover Topic 3.5 Energy in the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022). The topic is examined in Paper 1 Geographical Themes; questions 3, 4, 5 and 7 practise the data and calculation skills tested in Paper 2 Geographical Skills, where the syllabus says graphs may show energy. All places and data in the questions are fictional unless a question asks for your own case study.

Revise first with the energy study guide and the energy revision notes. For other topics, use the Cambridge IGCSE Geography hub and the IGCSE Geography checklist.

Questions

1. Define the term “non-renewable energy”. [2]

2. HEP and tidal power both use moving water. For each, state one physical condition needed for a good site and one disadvantage of using it. [4]

3. The table shows electricity generated by source in Corvania, a fictional country, in 2005 and 2025.

Source	2005 (TWh)	2025 (TWh)
Coal	48	22
Natural gas	20	30
HEP	12	13
Wind	2	18
Solar	1	12
Nuclear	8	5
Total	91	100

(a) Calculate the percentage of Corvania’s electricity that came from coal in 2005. Give your answer to one decimal place. [2] (b) Calculate the percentage of electricity from renewable sources in 2025. [1] (c) Describe the changes in Corvania’s electricity generation between 2005 and 2025. Use figures. [4] (d) Suggest two reasons why electricity from coal fell. [2]

4. A divided bar graph shows the energy used in three fictional countries, P, Q and R, as a percentage of each country’s total.

• Country P: fuelwood and other biomass 72%, oil 18%, HEP 8%, other 2%. Energy use: 15 GJ per person.
• Country Q: biomass 20%, oil 35%, coal 30%, natural gas 10%, HEP 5%. Energy use: 55 GJ per person.
• Country R: oil 38%, natural gas 30%, nuclear 12%, coal 10%, other renewables 8%, biomass 2%. Energy use: 170 GJ per person.

(a) Identify the country most likely to be a low-income country. Give one piece of evidence from the data. [2] (b) Calculate how many times more energy per person is used in R than in P. Give your answer to one decimal place. [1] (c) Explain why fuelwood is so important in countries like P. [4]

5. A line graph shows a fictional village solar mini-grid in Tamsa on a dry-season day. Solar output rises from 0 kW at 06:00 to a peak of 60 kW at 13:00, then falls to 0 kW by 18:30. Village demand is 20 kW at 13:00 and peaks at 75 kW at 20:00.

(a) State how much of the demand at 20:00 is not met by the solar panels. [1] (b) Suggest two ways the village could meet its evening demand. [2] (c) Explain why solar mini-grids can suit rural villages in low-income countries. [3]

6. A company plans 40 wind turbines on a ridge above Glenmorrow, a fictional upland farming valley. Four views are recorded:

Farmer: “The rent for turbine sites would help keep my farm going, and sheep can still graze around them.” Guesthouse owner: “Walkers come here for the empty skyline. I worry they will go elsewhere.” Council officer: “Construction would bring jobs, and the company would pay into a community fund.” Bird group volunteer: “The ridge is on a flight route for birds of prey.”

Suggest the advantages and disadvantages of the wind farm for Glenmorrow. [6]

7. A fictional nuclear power station has a capacity of 1,200 MW and runs at 90% of capacity on average. A fictional wind farm has a capacity of 300 MW and runs at 30% of capacity on average. Use 8,760 hours in a year.

(a) Calculate the nuclear station’s output in one year in GWh. Show your working. [2] (b) Calculate how many wind farms of this size would be needed to produce the same yearly output. Show your working. [2]

8. Explain why energy use per person is usually higher in high-income countries than in low-income countries. [4]

9. Explain two disadvantages of nuclear power. [4]

10. To what extent are biofuels a good replacement for oil in transport? Use an example. [5]

11. “Renewable energy is a better choice than nuclear power for a country that wants to use less fossil fuel.” To what extent do you agree? Use examples. [8]

12. For a named country or area you have studied, describe and explain its energy supply. [8]

Answers

1. Energy from a source that is a finite stock [1]; it cannot be replaced within a human lifetime once used, for example coal, oil, gas or uranium [1]. [2] Examiner insight: the second mark needs the idea that the stock is not replaced on a human timescale; “it runs out” alone is thin.

2. HEP condition: high, reliable rainfall or river flow, or a deep, narrow valley to dam [1]. HEP disadvantage: flooding land and displacing people, or trapping sediment [1]. Tidal condition: a large tidal range, often in an estuary [1]. Tidal disadvantage: very few suitable sites, or a barrage changes estuary habitats [1]. [4] Examiner insight: a condition must be physical and specific; “lots of water” or “near the sea” earns nothing.

3. (a) 48 ÷ 91 × 100 [1] = 52.7% [1]. [2] (b) 13 + 18 + 12 = 43 TWh out of 100, so 43% [1]. [1] (c) Total generation rose from 91 to 100 TWh [1]. Coal more than halved, from 48 to 22 TWh [1]. Wind rose ninefold, from 2 to 18 TWh, and solar from 1 to 12 TWh [1]. Natural gas rose by 10 TWh, while HEP stayed almost the same and nuclear fell from 8 to 5 TWh [1]. [4] (d) The government may have closed coal stations to cut carbon dioxide emissions or air pollution [1]; wind and solar became cheaper, and gas emits less carbon dioxide than coal, so they replaced it [1]. [2] Examiner insight: in “describe” items, a mark often needs both the direction of change and a figure with units, so quote TWh values, not just “coal fell”.

4. (a) Country P [1], because 72% of its energy comes from fuelwood and other biomass, or because it uses only 15 GJ per person [1]. [2] (b) 170 ÷ 15 = 11.3 times [1]. [1] (c) Many rural homes have no connection to an electricity grid [1]. Wood can be collected free, which matters when incomes are low [1]. Families cannot afford imported fuels such as kerosene or gas, or the stoves to use them [1]. Wood is used directly for cooking, which is a large share of household energy use in poorer countries [1]. [4] Examiner insight: “explain” needs a reason linked to poverty or lack of infrastructure; just saying “they use a lot of wood” repeats the data.

5. (a) 75 kW [1]. [1] (b) Store daytime surplus in batteries for use after dark [1]; add a different source such as a small HEP scheme, a wind turbine or a diesel generator [1]. [2] (c) Panels can be installed on single buildings or small grids, so no long power lines to a national grid are needed [1]. Many low-income countries are at low latitudes with strong sunshine for much of the year [1]. There is no fuel to buy or transport once panels are installed [1]. [3] Examiner insight: use the graph’s evidence that demand peaks after sunset; an answer that ignores the timing misses the point of the question.

6. Advantages: rent gives farmers extra income [1], and grazing can continue, so land is not lost [1]; construction jobs and a community fund bring money into the valley [1]. Disadvantages: the turbines spoil the open skyline [1], which may reduce walkers and harm guesthouse income [1]; turbines on a bird flight route may kill birds of prey [1]. [6] Examiner insight: the top marks go to answers that use the speakers’ points and develop them (rent -> income -> farm survives) rather than listing general wind-power facts.

7. (a) 1,200 × 8,760 × 0.9 = 9,460,800 MWh [1] = 9,460.8 GWh [1]. [2] (b) One wind farm: 300 × 8,760 × 0.3 = 788,400 MWh [1]; 9,460,800 ÷ 788,400 = 12 wind farms [1]. [2] Examiner insight: show each step with units; capacity (MW) is not the same as output (MWh or GWh), and mixing them loses the working mark.

8. People in high-income countries own more cars and travel further, so they use more oil [1]. Homes have more electrical appliances and are often heated or air-conditioned [1]. The economy has more industry and services, which use large amounts of electricity [1]. In low-income countries many people have no grid connection and use small amounts of fuelwood for cooking [1]. [4] Examiner insight: each reason must say why it raises energy use; “they are richer” is a starting point, not an explanation.

9. Radioactive waste stays dangerous for thousands of years [1], so it must be stored securely, which is costly and opposed by people near storage sites [1]. Accidents are rare but severe, as at Chernobyl in 1986 or Fukushima Daiichi in 2011 [1], where radiation forced people to leave their homes over a wide area [1]. [4] Examiner insight: for “explain two”, each disadvantage needs a development point; two bare statements score half marks.

10. Biofuels such as ethanol from sugarcane can replace petrol in cars [1]; Brazil has run a national programme since 1975, and flex-fuel cars there can use any blend of petrol and ethanol [1]. They are renewable and cut oil imports [1]. However, crops for fuel take farmland that could grow food [1], and expanding farmland can lead to forest clearance, so biofuels are best where there is spare land, as in Brazil, rather than in every country [1]. [5] Examiner insight: the judgement mark needs a conditional conclusion, such as “where”, “when” or “for whom” biofuels work.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these indicative points show what a strong answer includes. For renewables: they have no fuel cost and produce no radioactive waste [1]. Iceland makes almost all its electricity from hydro and geothermal because of its high rainfall and plate-boundary heat [1]. Small solar systems can supply villages in low-income countries that nuclear power could never reach [1]. Against renewables: wind and solar are intermittent, so they need storage or back-up [1], and large HEP can displace people, as at the Three Gorges Dam [1]. For nuclear: it gives a large, steady supply; France built reactors after the 1973 oil crisis and made about 72% of its electricity from nuclear by 2018 [1]. Against nuclear: high cost, long-lived waste and accident risk, as at Fukushima in 2011 [1]. Judgement: renewables are the better choice where physical conditions suit them and for poorer countries, but nuclear can provide reliable base load for wealthy countries, so many countries combine both [1]. [8] Examiner insight: the highest level needs a clear judgement that depends on the type of country, supported by at least two named examples.

12. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these indicative points use Iceland. Iceland lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a constructive plate boundary, so hot rock lies close to the surface [1]. In 2025, 29.4% of its electricity came from geothermal plants such as Hellisheiði (303 MW) [1]. High rainfall and glacier meltwater feed fast rivers in steep valleys [1], so 70.5% of electricity came from hydropower in 2025 [1]. The 690 MW Kárahnjúkar scheme was built to power an aluminium smelter [1]. About 90% of homes are heated with geothermal hot water [1]. Cheap renewable power has attracted energy-hungry industry, which used 72% of electricity in 2005 [1]. Oil is still imported for vehicles, ships and aircraft, so total energy supply is not fully renewable [1]. [8] Examiner insight: “describe and explain” needs both the energy mix with figures and the physical or economic reasons for it; place-specific detail decides the top level.

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing MW where the question asks for energy produced in MWh, GWh or TWh.
• Describing a table with no figures, or with figures but no units.
• Calling nuclear renewable, or saying renewables have no environmental impact.
• Giving general wind-power facts instead of using the speakers’ views in a scenario question.
• Listing advantages and disadvantages with no final judgement in “to what extent” questions.
• Case-study answers with no place names, plant names or percentages.
• Forgetting that fuelwood and levels of development are named in the syllabus.
• Rounding too early in multi-step calculations.

Next steps

• Check gaps in the energy study guide and the energy revision notes.
• Review plate boundaries in earthquakes and volcanoes and factory location in industry.
• Find your weaker topics with a free diagnostic.
• Want help with case-study answers? Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

These questions are written for the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022), Topic 3.5 Energy. Use them alongside official past papers from your board or school, and your teacher will confirm which case study your class uses.