Cambridge O-Level Environmental Management: Energy Resources, Conservation and Fracking (5014, 2027-2029)

Syllabus edition note. This resource follows the Cambridge O Level Environmental Management 5014 syllabus for exams in 2027, 2028 and 2029 (version 1), first examined in the June 2027 series (and also available in the November series in Mauritius only). If you sit 5014 in November 2026 in Mauritius, you sit the 2025-2026 syllabus (version 2), which differs: it has nine topics instead of seven, Paper 1 is “Theory” (Section A 20 marks, Section B 60 marks) and Paper 2 is “Management in context”, and it lists recommended case studies for each topic. For this topic, the 2025-2026 syllabus makes energy a topic of its own (Topic 2 Energy and the environment, 2.1-2.6), includes oil pollution in it, lists three biofuels rather than four, has no hydrogen or heat pump content, and treats fracking as one example of research into new energy resources. Use the 2025-2026 Energy and the Environment guide if you sit in November 2026.

This guide covers the last three sub-topics of Topic 1 Natural resources in the 2027-2029 edition of Cambridge O Level Environmental Management (5014): 1.4 Energy resources, 1.5 Conservation and management of energy resources and 1.6 Fracking. Sub-topics 1.1-1.3 are in the companion Rocks, Ores and Minerals guide.

Where this fits in 5014

In this edition energy is no longer a topic of its own. It sits inside Topic 1 Natural resources, after the rocks, ores and minerals sub-topics, because fossil fuels and uranium are extracted from the Earth’s crust in the same way. Oil pollution, which the 2025-2026 syllabus taught with energy, is now sub-topic 3.5 in Topic 3 Water. The effects of burning fossil fuels (climate change and acid rain) are in Topic 4 The atmosphere and human activities.

Syllabus coverage

CAMBRIDGE O LEVEL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (5014), 2027-2029 — TOPIC 1 NATURAL RESOURCES, SUB-TOPICS 1.4-1.6

• 1.4 Energy resources
  • 1.4.1 Describe the formation of fossil fuels: coal, petroleum (oil) and natural gas (methane).
  • 1.4.2 Classify energy resources as renewable (non-finite) and non-renewable (finite).
  • 1.4.3 Describe how the energy resources in 1.4.2 are used to generate electricity.
  • 1.4.4 Discuss the benefits and limitations of the energy resources in 1.4.2.
  • 1.4.5 Describe and explain the eight factors affecting demand for energy.
• 1.5 Conservation and management of energy resources
  • 1.5.1 Describe the eight strategies for the management of energy resources listed.
  • 1.5.2 Describe the development of new energy resources: blue and green hydrogen fuel, ground source and air source heat pumps.
  • 1.5.3 Discuss the benefits and limitations of strategies for the management of energy resources.
• 1.6 Fracking
  • 1.6.1 Define fracking.
  • 1.6.2 Discuss the benefits and limitations of fracking.

How to approach it

Start with one table of every energy resource in 1.4.2: whether it is renewable or non-renewable, how it generates electricity (1.4.3), and at least one benefit and one limitation (1.4.4). Most questions in this part of the syllabus draw on that table. Then learn the demand factors (1.4.5) as causes, each with the direction it pushes demand, and the management strategies (1.5.1) as responses. 1.4.4, 1.5.3 and 1.6.2 all say “discuss the benefits and limitations”, so practise answers that weigh both sides.

Official syllabus

Cambridge O Level Environmental Management (5014) syllabus for 2027, 2028 and 2029, section 3 Subject content, pp.14-15 — cambridgeinternational.org.

1.4.1 How fossil fuels form

• Coal forms from plant material in swamps. Waterlogged, low-oxygen conditions stop the plants decaying completely; the material is buried under more sediment and, over millions of years, heat and pressure turn it into coal.
• Petroleum (oil) and natural gas (methane) form from the remains of tiny marine organisms that settled in mud on the sea bed. Buried without oxygen, and heated and compressed over millions of years, the remains change into oil and gas. Both move upwards through permeable rock until an impermeable layer traps them.

Because they form over millions of years but are used up in decades, fossil fuels are finite.

1.4.2 Renewable and non-renewable energy resources

Category	The syllabus’s list
Renewable (non-finite)	Biofuels (bioethanol, biomass, biogas and wood), geothermal power, hydro-electric power, tidal power, wave power, solar power and wind power
Non-renewable (finite)	Fossil fuels and nuclear power using uranium

Nuclear power is non-renewable because its fuel, uranium, is a finite resource mined from the Earth, even though no fuel is burned.

1.4.3 and 1.4.4 Generating electricity: how, benefits and limitations

Resource	How it generates electricity	A benefit	A limitation
Fossil fuels	Fuel is burned to boil water; steam turns a turbine that drives a generator	Reliable output that can be adjusted to demand	Releases carbon dioxide and, with sulfur-containing fuels, sulfur dioxide; finite
Nuclear (uranium)	Fission of uranium releases heat that boils water; steam drives a turbine	Large, steady output with very little carbon dioxide during generation	Radioactive waste must be stored for a very long time; risk of accidents; high building cost
Biofuels	Bioethanol, biomass, biogas or wood is burned to raise steam, or biogas is burned in an engine, driving a generator	Plants regrow, taking up carbon dioxide; biogas makes use of waste	Land for fuel crops can replace food crops; burning releases air pollutants
Geothermal	Hot water and steam from hot rocks underground turn a turbine	Continuous output with low emissions	Only practical for electricity where hot rocks are near the surface, often in volcanic areas
Hydro-electric	Water stored behind a dam flows through turbines	Reliable and adjustable; the reservoir can store water	Flooding land displaces people and destroys habitat; dams trap sediment
Tidal	Rising and falling tides move water through turbines, for example in a barrage	Tides are predictable	Few suitable sites; barrages alter estuary habitats
Wave	The up-and-down motion of waves drives a turbine	No fuel cost or emissions during generation	Output varies; equipment must survive storms
Solar	Photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity	Can be used on a small scale, including on roofs and in remote areas	No output at night and less in cloudy weather
Wind	Wind turns turbine blades that drive a generator	No fuel cost or emissions during generation	Output depends on wind speed; visual and noise impact

A good 1.4.4 answer names the specific benefit or limitation and says who or what it affects, rather than calling a resource “clean” or “bad”.

1.4.5 Factors affecting demand for energy

The syllabus lists eight factors:

1. Transport — more vehicles and journeys use more fuel.
2. Personal and national wealth — richer people and countries own more appliances and vehicles and use more energy per person.
3. Climate — cold places need energy for heating; hot places for cooling.
4. Human population size — more people need more energy in total.
5. Industry — industrialisation, especially heavy industry, raises demand.
6. Disruption to supply — when supply is cut, for example by conflict or a natural hazard, energy must be found from elsewhere and people may be forced to use less.
7. Unreliable supply — where supply is often cut, people and businesses may switch to their own generators or other sources.
8. Scarcity of resources — scarce resources are expensive, which can reduce demand or shift it to other resources.

1.5 Conservation and management of energy resources

Strategies (1.5.1). The syllabus lists:

Strategy	How it helps
Reducing consumption	Using less energy, for example by switching devices off
Insulation	Less heat is lost from buildings, so less energy is used for heating or cooling
Energy-efficient devices including vehicles and electrically propelled vehicles	The same task uses less energy
Exploiting existing energy resources	Making fuller use of resources already available
Education on energy conservation	People learn how and why to save energy
Transport policies	For example public transport, car sharing and cycle lanes reduce fuel use
Battery storage	Stores electricity generated at times of surplus, for example from solar or wind, for use later
Development of new energy resources	Adds supply that may be cleaner or more secure (see 1.5.2)

New energy resources (1.5.2).

• Blue hydrogen fuel is produced from natural gas. Background: the carbon dioxide released in production is intended to be captured and stored; if it is not, blue hydrogen still adds to greenhouse gases.
• Green hydrogen fuel is produced using renewable resources. Background: electricity from renewable sources is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen (electrolysis). Hydrogen burns or reacts in a fuel cell to produce water, not carbon dioxide.
• Ground source heat pumps transfer heat from the ground for heating.
• Air source heat pumps transfer heat from the air for heating.

Background: heat pumps need electricity to run, but deliver more heat energy than the electrical energy they use. They work in most climates, not only in volcanic areas.

Benefits and limitations (1.5.3). Reducing consumption and education are cheap to begin with but depend on people changing their behaviour. Insulation, efficient devices, electric vehicles and heat pumps save energy over time but cost more at the start. Battery storage does not save energy: it stores surplus electricity, for example from solar or wind, for use later, which helps renewables replace fossil fuels but adds cost. Electric vehicles and heat pumps are only as low-carbon as the electricity they use. Hydrogen fuels need new production, storage and distribution systems. Transport policies work best where public transport is affordable and reliable.

1.6 Fracking

The syllabus defines fracking as “the extraction of natural gas or petroleum from shale rock by hydraulic fracturing”. Background: water, sand and chemicals are pumped down a well at high pressure to crack the shale, and the gas or oil escapes through the cracks to the well. Shale is impermeable (1.1.4), which is why the gas cannot be extracted without fracturing it.

Benefits	Limitations
Gives access to gas and oil that could not otherwise be extracted	Uses large volumes of water
Increases a country’s own energy supply and reduces imports	Risk of ground water contamination from chemicals or escaping gas
Creates jobs and tax income	Can trigger small earthquakes
Natural gas releases less carbon dioxide than coal when burned for electricity	It is still a fossil fuel, so it adds to greenhouse gases, and methane can leak
	Traffic, noise and land use at well sites

Worked example

A household uses 4000 kWh of energy a year for heating. After insulation is fitted, it uses 3000 kWh. Calculate the percentage reduction.

reduction   = 4000 - 3000 = 1000 kWh
% reduction = 1000 / 4000 x 100 = 25%

The percentage change is calculated from the original value, not the new one (1000 / 3000 x 100 would give the wrong answer, 33%).

Common mistakes

• Classifying nuclear power as renewable because nothing is burned.
• Leaving biomass out of the biofuels list: this edition lists four biofuels (bioethanol, biomass, biogas and wood).
• Describing hydrogen as a “source” of energy without saying how it is produced: blue from natural gas, green using renewable resources.
• Saying heat pumps work only in volcanic areas. That limitation applies to geothermal electricity, not to heat pumps.
• Answering a fracking question without the definition, or giving only its benefits.
• Revising oil pollution here. In this edition it belongs to Topic 3 Water (3.5).

Quick revision checklist

• Describe the formation of coal, petroleum (oil) and natural gas (methane).
• Classify all the 1.4.2 resources as renewable (non-finite) or non-renewable (finite).
• Describe how each one generates electricity, and give a benefit and a limitation of each.
• Describe and explain all eight demand factors.
• Describe the eight management strategies and the four new energy resources, and discuss their benefits and limitations.
• Define fracking and discuss its benefits and limitations.

What changed from the 2025-2026 syllabus

• Structure. The 2025-2026 Topic 2 Energy and the environment (2.1-2.6) becomes three sub-topics of Topic 1 Natural resources (1.4-1.6). The old 2.5 Impact of oil pollution and 2.6 Management of oil pollution move to Topic 3 Water as 3.5 Oil pollution, with longer lists of causes, impacts and strategies.
• Energy resources. Biomass is added to the biofuels, and the categories are named renewable (non-finite) and non-renewable (finite). “Describe the environmental, economic and social advantages and disadvantages” becomes “discuss the benefits and limitations”.
• Demand. The 2025-2026 list was domestic demand, industrial demand, transport, personal and national wealth, and climate. The new list drops domestic demand, names industry, and adds human population size, disruption to supply, unreliable supply and scarcity of resources.
• Management. Energy from waste cooking oil is no longer listed. Battery storage, electrically propelled vehicles and the development of new energy resources (blue and green hydrogen, ground and air source heat pumps) are new.
• Fracking. Once an example of research into new energy resources, it is now a sub-topic of its own with a definition.
• Case study. The 2025-2026 syllabus recommended a case study of an oil pollution event; the 2027-2029 syllabus has removed its recommended case studies.