Location factors Energy resources

Energy & electricity Electricity is the flow of electrical power or charge. It is a secondary energy source which means that we get it from the conversion of other sources of energy, like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources, which are called primary sources. The energy sources we use to make electricity can be renewable or non-renewable, but electricity itself is neither renewable or non-renewable.

Renewable energy resources Solar energy HEP Tidal power Wind power Geothermal energy Water motion Biofuels

Non-renewable energy Firewood/charcoal Coal Oil/petroleum Natural gas Nuclear power

What are the uses of energy in industries?

To power the machines

To transport RM and products

To burn and remove impurities in RM To smelt ores to extract useable metals

To convert RM to final goods

To produce secondary energy

Charcoal Dirty Bulky Great amount used Difficult in transport High production cost

Where can we get charcoal? Woodland location Example: early iron industry

Motive power Immobile Can’t be transported

Where is the industry located? By the sides of a river/stream Example: Textile industry in Somerset, Britain in 14th century

Coal Strong locational influence Highly localized Therefore, industries are coal field-oriented Example: early steel industries in Pittsburgh, USA

Electricity Mobile = can be transported by cables and pylons (>1500 km from power station) ubiquitous Therefore, free from the sources of power Reduce the pull of energy

Electricity Allows some old industries in the coalfield continue to operate (geographical inertia)

Coal Allows other factors to influence the location of industries Like market So industries can now be located away from power resources and power stations

Coal Some stick to coastal location (port-oriented) Due to import of power resources, e.g. coal Example: iron and steel ind. have been located along NE USA to obtain imported RM at lower cost

Petroleum & natural gas Small impact on industrial location Can be easily transported by pipelines, e.g. Alaska And by supertankers But port locations are attractive ind. locations

HEP Associated with aluminium smelting & pulp ind., which requires a lot of energy Pull on ind. location is not strong As it can be conveniently transmitted by high-tension wires Allow other factors to become more important, e.g. labour supply and market

Nuclear power Produced by nuclear reactors Located in remote areas Because of radiation danger unlikely to attract ind.

Aluminium smelting energy-intensive/power-oriented Aluminium smelters at Kitimat in British Columbia Electro-chemical industries around Niagara Falls, S. Norway. It requires on average 15.7 kWh of electricity to produce 1 kg of aluminium. The smelting process is continuous/ cannot easily be stopped and restarted. Therefore, reliable power supply is essential

Aluminium smelting Design and process improvements have progressively reduced this figure from about 21kWh in the 1950's.

Aluminium & HEP > 55% of the world's primary aluminium is produced using HEP HEP dams and their related aluminium smelters tend to be situated in remote areas. Most other aluminium smelters are located in energy-surplus regions.

Recent trend: Global shift in aluminium smelters From MDCs to LDCs such as Latin America. e.g. build Al. smelters in Trinidad & Tobago Reasons: Rising energy costs in developed world Low energy cost (local gas) RM are found (bauxite) Access to N. American markets

Is power still an important location factor now? Important for those ind. which consume a large amount of energy For other ind., regularity and consistency supply of electricity is more important Often occur in many newly industrialized countries with the lack of infrastructure Example: Daya Bay