GCSE · Physics · AQA · Spec 8463

National and global energy resources

Is bio-fuel renewable? It's burned like coal and gives off carbon dioxide like coal, yet the answer is yes. So what does 'renewable' actually mean?

Question 1 of 3 · Will it run out?

Renewable or non-renewable?

Pick a resource, then choose its box. Ask one thing only: is the supply being (or can it be) replenished as we use it?

Still to sort

Renewable (0)

The supply is being, or can be, replenished as it is used.

Where the line is: Renewable is about the supply being replaced, nothing else. Bio-fuel is burned like a fuel, yet it lands here because its crops or trees can be replanted and grown again.

Non-renewable (0)

A limited supply that is not replaced as it is used up.

Where the line is: Non-renewable means the supply runs down. It is not another word for 'fossil fuel': nuclear fuel isn't one of the fossil fuels, but its supply is limited too, so it belongs here.

11 of 11 still to sort.

Eleven energy resources, one test. Commit first, then read why.

Watch out: Don't sort by 'clean' or 'dirty'. The only test in this sort is whether the supply is replaced as it is used. Pollution is a different question, and it gets its own turn next.

Question 2 of 3 · What does it do to the planet?

Renewable isn't the same as clean

Two separate questions this time. For each resource, tick every set it belongs to: both, just one, or neither.

  • A Renewable
  • B Gives off no carbon dioxide while generating
  1. Coal
  2. Natural gas
  3. Nuclear fuel
  4. Wind
  5. Bio-fuel

Question 3 of 3 · Can you switch it on when you need it?

Renewable isn't the same as reliable

The claim

A renewable resource is a reliable resource.

Place each piece of evidence to load the balance. Mark the strong ones — they count double.

  1. A hydroelectric station keeps water stored behind its dam and can let it flow whenever electricity is needed, even responding quickly to sudden rises in demand.

    Evidence 1: does it support or challenge the claim?

  2. The tide comes in twice a day, so the times when a tidal barrage can generate are known ahead.

    Evidence 2: does it support or challenge the claim?

  3. A wind turbine generates electricity only while the wind is blowing, and how much it produces varies with the wind speed and the weather.

    Evidence 3: does it support or challenge the claim?

  4. Solar panels generate electricity only when the Sun is shining: nothing at night, and far less on cloudy days.

    Evidence 4: does it support or challenge the claim?

  5. Waves are driven by the wind, which is not steady.

    Evidence 5: does it support or challenge the claim?

Two big uses of energy, side by side

TransportvsHeating homes

Energy resources are used for transport, electricity generation and heating. Here are transport and home heating. Every figure keeps its own year, place and measure, so read the labels as carefully as the numbers.

Focus

Main fuels

Transport

Oil products. Petrol and diesel run cars and trains; kerosene fuels aircraft.

Heating homes

Mostly natural gas, burnt in a boiler that supplies central heating. Homes with no gas connection often use oil or LPG boilers instead; others use biomass boilers burning wood pellets, direct electric heaters, or electric heat pumps.

The insight

Fossil fuels lead both: oil on the roads and in the air, gas in the home. But some homes already heat with other things, from wood pellets to electricity.

How dominant is the main fuel?

Transport

Petroleum fuels supplied 92.4% of the energy used for UK transport (2025), and over nine in every ten cars run on petrol or diesel.

Heating homes

Gas central heating was used in 86% of English homes (2019).

Share of energy it takes

Transport

More than anything else: 41% of all UK energy consumption (2022).

Heating homes

Within UK homes, space heating took 60.8% of the energy used and water heating another 17.4% (2025).

How much ends up useful (UK, 2025)

Transport

Only 37%, because internal combustion engines are relatively inefficient.

Heating homes

86% of the energy used in homes, which official statisticians put down mainly to efficient gas boilers heating rooms and water.

How UK energy use is changing

Two stories run through this: how the UK makes its electricity, and how it heats its homes. Each entry keeps its own dates and its own measure, so read them as separate snapshots and never join the numbers into one line. Tap an entry to open its extra detail. Before you tap 2023, make a guess: if renewables made around 3% of UK electricity in 2000, what share did they make in 2023?

Put it into words

Environmental impact: write it, then check it

Describe the environmental impact of using three different energy resources. Give one impact for each resource. [3 marks]

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Will it run out? What does it do to the planet? Can you switch it on when you need it? Three questions, and the answers don't line up.

What you need to know

  • Name the main energy resources: coal, oil and gas (the fossil fuels), nuclear fuel, bio-fuel, wind, hydroelectricity, geothermal, the tides, the Sun and water waves.
  • Tell renewable from non-renewable: renewable is replenished as it is used; non-renewable is a limited supply that is not replaced.
  • Compare how resources are used for transport, electricity generation and heating.
  • Explain why some resources are more reliable than others.
  • Describe the environmental impact of using different resources, and why science can't always deal with the problems it identifies.
  • Read and describe the recorded trends in how the UK uses energy resources.

The big picture

Energy resources are sorted by one test: is the supply replaced as it is used? Renewable resources are replenished; non-renewable ones (coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear fuel) are limited and are not replaced. But renewable does not mean clean, and it does not mean reliable, so every resource needs three separate questions: will it run out, what does using it do to the environment, and can it generate when it is needed? The lesson also compares how resources are used for transport, heating and electricity, and reads the recorded trends in how the UK uses them.

Key points

1Renewable means the supply is being (or can be) replenished as it is used. Coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear fuel are non-renewable: their supply is limited and is not replaced.
2Wind, solar, hydroelectricity, bio-fuel, geothermal, the tides and water waves are renewable. Bio-fuel counts only because its crops or trees can be replanted and regrown.
3Renewable is not the same as clean: bio-fuel releases carbon dioxide (close to carbon neutral), while nuclear fuel releases none while generating.
4Renewable is not the same as reliable: hydroelectricity and tidal barrages are dependable, but wind, solar and waves depend on the weather.
5Fossil fuels have several uses: petrol and diesel for cars and trains, kerosene for aircraft, gas for home boilers, and burning in power stations to generate electricity.
6Every resource has environmental impacts: carbon dioxide and climate change from fossil fuels, soot from coal, scarred land and oil spills from extraction, radioactive waste from nuclear, lost habitats from dams and barrages, land and views from wind farms, and farmland lost to bio-fuel crops.
7Science can identify these issues but can't always deal with them, because of political, social, ethical or economic considerations.
8UK trends: renewables rose from around 3% of electricity (2000) to around 40% (2023); homes moved from coal fireplaces to gas boilers; heat-pump electricity more than doubled between 2020 and 2025.

Worked example

Problem

A student says: "Bio-fuel can't be renewable. You burn it, just like coal, and it gives off carbon dioxide." Explain why bio-fuel is still classed as renewable, and what is actually true about its carbon dioxide.

⚠ Watch out

Easy mistake: treating 'renewable' as if it meant 'clean' or 'always available'. Renewable only means the supply is replenished as it is used. Bio-fuel is renewable but releases carbon dioxide; wind is renewable but only generates while the wind blows.

🧠

Memory hook

Play R-P-S with every resource: Run out? Pollution? Switch on when needed? Ask all three every time, because a resource that wins one round can lose another.

✓

Check yourself

Without looking back: name two renewable resources that are reliable and two that depend on the weather, and say what makes the difference for each pair.

Flashcards

(15)
What makes an energy resource renewable?
Its supply is being (or can be) replenished as it is used.
Name the four non-renewable energy resources.
Coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear fuel. Their supply is limited and is not replaced as it is used up.
Name seven renewable energy resources.
Wind, the Sun (solar), hydroelectricity, bio-fuel, geothermal, the tides and water waves.
Why does bio-fuel count as renewable?
The trees or crops that are burned can be replanted and grown again to replace them.
Which resource is non-renewable yet releases no carbon dioxide while generating electricity?
Nuclear fuel. Its big drawback is used fuel: highly radioactive waste that must be stored carefully for thousands of years.
What makes a hydroelectric station reliable?
Water is stored behind the dam and let through whenever electricity is needed, so it can respond quickly to sudden rises in demand.
Why is a tidal barrage called dependable?
The tide comes in twice a day, so the times it can generate are known ahead.
Why are wind, solar and wave power unreliable?
They depend on the weather: turbines need the wind to blow, solar panels give nothing at night and far less when cloudy, and waves are driven by the unsteady wind.
What are the three main uses of energy resources?
Transport, electricity generation and heating.
Which use takes the biggest share of UK energy?
Transport: 41% of UK energy consumption in 2022. Electricity generation is only around a fifth.
How are most UK homes heated?
By natural gas burnt in a boiler that supplies central heating (86% of English homes in 2019).
Environmental impact of a hydroelectric dam or a tidal barrage?
A dam floods land behind it and reduces the flow below; a barrage blocks a river mouth and can obstruct ships. Both can destroy habitats.
Why can't science always deal with the environmental problems it identifies?
Because of political, social, ethical or economic considerations.
How has the renewable share of UK electricity changed?
From around 3% in 2000 to around 40% in 2023: a strong rise.
How did the fuels used in UK homes change between 1970 and 2000?
Coal use fell by almost 90%; gas use rose by 256% and electricity use by 45%.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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