Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Gilyeat, and I'm going to be your Geography teacher for today.

In today's lesson, we are going to be learning about Russia's energy.

Our lesson outcome for today is that you can evaluate the challenges and opportunities of Russia's reliance on fossil fuels and identify sources of renewable energy.

We've got three keywords for today's lesson.

So the first one is fossil fuels, which are natural energy sources of coal, oil, and natural gas that formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals over millions of years.

The second is renewable energy, and these are natural resources that can be used to produce energy and are constantly replenished, such as sunlight, wind, water, and geothermal heat.

And finally, long term describes the impacts that are not immediate but develop or become clear in the future.

These keywords are highlighted in bold throughout the lesson.

So, to start off with, we're gonna look at some of the opportunities and challenges of fossil fuels in Russia, and then we're going to move on to looking at renewable energy, okay? So let's get going with our first learning cycle.

Russia is an energy superpower.

It is in the world's top five producers for all three fossil fuels, okay? So we've got three bar charts here which show the top five producers of coal, oil, and natural gas, okay? And they've been measured in separate quantities.

So coal is million tonnes per year, oil is barrels of oil a day, and natural gas is metres cubed per year, okay? And then on the y-axis, it's relative quantity, so it shows how much the different countries are producing in relation to each other rather than a total amount, okay? So we can see there that Russia is the fifth largest producer of coal, it is the third largest producer of oil, and it is the second largest producer of natural gas after the USA, okay? Now, Russia's fossil fuels are spread around across the country.

So, we can see here on the map that coal, which is where the little green squares are, there are lots of different coal resources around Russia and they are spread quite evenly across the country.

So you've got some in western Russia, but you've got some in the kind of northeast in the Siberia region as well, okay? So, for oil, we've got some located in western Russia and some in central Russia.

And natural gas is also spread around the country, okay? And one of the natural gas locations is actually just off the coastline there.

Now, many fossil fuels are in accessible areas, okay? So that means that they are easy to extract from the ground.

But other reserves are in the north and the east in hard to reach areas underneath a thick permafrost, okay? So, the northeast of the country where Siberia is, a lot of the ground there is frozen, so you have frozen soil, which makes it much, much harder to extract those resources from the ground, okay, because you're having to go through frozen land.

Now, Russia produces more fossil fuels than it needs, so it exports them to other countries.

Natural gas is fed to Europe and Asia through a network of pipes, okay? So, if we have a look at the map that we've got on the slide here, we can see those red lines are gas pipelines, okay? So these are pipelines that run from Russia to Europe, okay? And in them, they are transporting gas for those countries to use.

The one that is the little red dotted line is a proposed gas line, so that one hasn't been built yet.

Okay, we've got three statements here from Jacob, Aisha, and Jun.

What I'd like you to do is read the statements and decide who is correct.

So Jun is correct here, Russia is an energy superpower as it is a top five producer of all three fossil fuels.

Well done if you got that correct.

Now, fossil fuels have led to opportunities and challenges for Russia, okay? And these can be divided into different categories.

So we can think of the social opportunities and challenges, so the good things and the bad things of how it affects people, economic opportunities and challenges, environmental and political.

So, we're going to look at these in a little bit more detail.

So, first of all on the slide, we have the fossil fuels have led to some opportunities for Russia.

So, one of the major ones is the economic opportunities.

Fossil fuels are a major source of jobs and income.

In 2022, Russia earned $118 billion from energy exports.

So it produces a lot of the country's money, okay? And with that brings social opportunities.

So revenue helps fund public services and infrastructure projects, okay? So that money that is made from selling the fossil fuels can help improve the country.

This can also bring environmental opportunities.

So profits could be used to invest in renewable energy and environmental protection.

And politically, control over energy supplies gives Russia political power, especially in Europe.

So if you think of other countries in Europe are reliant on Russia for its fossil fuels, then that means that that puts Russia in a position of power because if those countries didn't have that, it would put them in a lot of issues.

Okay, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna make sure that we've understood what those different opportunities are.

So, complete the details of the opportunities Russia has from its fossil fuels.

So the first one, we're gonna think about the economics: so in 2022, Russia earned how much from energy exports? Can you remember? That was $118 billion.

Well done if you remembered that correctly.

Social: revenue helps fund services and something projects.

Infrastructure projects.

Well done if you got that correct.

Environmental: profits could be used to invest in something and environmental protection.

Renewable energy.

And finally, something control over energy supplies gives the power.

So what category is that? Political.

Well done if you got that right.

Now, fossil fuels have also led to challenges for Russia.

So, economically, reliance on fossil fuels makes Russia vulnerable to changes in global demand.

Infrastructure is ageing and needs to be replaced.

So if a country is very reliant on one source of income, if the market for that income changes, it puts the country in a vulnerable position.

So it's better for a country to have a variation in things that it makes money from, basically.

And if we're thinking about the future, how countries are trying to move away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy resources because of global warming, that means that countries such as Russia need to think that the demand for that resource might be lower in the future, so they're going to have to think about other ways of making money.

So environmentally, extraction often leads to air pollution and habitat damage, while also being a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, okay? So in the long term, it is not good that Russia is still extracting and using fossil fuels, okay? And Russia already is starting to see some of the effects of climate change with the melting permafrost in Siberia, increased wildfires, and ecosystem damage.

So long term, using fossil fuels is not good for Russia, but also globally.

And politically, due to conflicts, many Western countries have imposed sanctions that hurt Russia's fossil fuel exports.

So European countries have actively significantly reduced their dependence on Russian fossil fuels since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.

Okay, which of the following presents an economic challenge for Russia? Read the statements and decide which is correct.

B is correct, so a lot of infrastructure is ageing and needs replacing.

Now, geographers evaluate opportunities, so the good things and challenges, the not so good things, to reach conclusions.

But this is rarely straightforward.

The following questions help us evaluate.

So, as Jacob has said here, which is more important? So we need to think about the immediate and the long-term effects of something.

And also, Aisha has said here, "Are all categories as important as each other?" So you might need to think, well, which is more important, the environment or the economy? So what do you think? Do the opportunities for Russia provided by its fossil fuels outweigh the challenges? Have a quick chat with your partner.

Okay, so true or false? When evaluating, you only need to think about the immediate impacts.

That is false, and can you tell me why? When evaluating, you should think about the short term but also consider the long term and how impacts may differ over time.

Well done if you got that correct.

Okay, so we're onto our first task for the lesson.

I've got a statement on the slide here, "The opportunities for Russia from fossil fuels outweigh the challenges." So the first thing that I'd like you to do is place a cross on the line representing your evaluation from disagree to agree.

You're then going to state your evaluation, so do you agree, disagree, or partly agree with the statement? And finally, justify your evaluation.

So you're going to think about the economic, social, environmental, and political evidence to support your opinion.

And I want you to make sure that you are thinking about the long term as well, not just the short term.

So, pause the video and have a go at this task.

Okay, I've got a model answer for this question, but you did not have to agree or put what I have: I disagree with the statement.

Fossil fuels provide significant economic opportunities for Russia, such as income from exports and funding for services and infrastructure, but the challenges are substantial and long term.

The energy sector supports jobs and gives Russia political influence through its control of energy supplies.

However, the reliance on fossil fuels makes Russia vulnerable to market shifts and international sanctions.

Much of the infrastructure is old, and environmental costs such as pollution, habitat destruction, and contributions to global warming are high.

Overall, the challenges from fossil fuels raise concerns that outweigh the opportunities.

So, it might be worth just pausing the video and looking at the structure and detail I have put in my answer and see if you can improve your own.

Okay, so we're now moving on to our second learning cycle looking at renewable energy in Russia.

Russia is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, and it has missed many targets which were set by the Russian government through the Paris Agreement to increase its use of renewable energy.

Renewable energy use in Russia is limited in comparison to much of the world.

And in 2022, fossil fuels provided 86% of Russia's domestic fuel needs, okay? So that means the use of its own country.

7% came from nuclear sources, okay? So we can see on the pie chart there, that's quite substantial.

86% of its domestic use is from fossil fuels.

Just 7% of Russia's energy came from renewable energy sources.

Of this, 6% was from hydroelectric power and 1% from wind, solar, and biofuels.

In 2022, what percentage of UK energy do you think came from renewable energy sources? Have a guess.

Or do you know? 37.

5.

Well done if you got that right.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned.

What percentage of Russia's energy came from fossil fuels in 2022? 86%.

Well done if you remembered that.

Russia possesses significant renewable energy potential, including wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and solar, okay? So wind energy is captured by turbines, hydroelectric power is captured from moving water, and geothermal heat from the ground can be captured, and solar energy is captured from sunlight, okay? Now, Russia has potential to use all four of these renewable energy sources.

Okay, we're going to see where there is potential for renewable energy in Russia.

So the central regions offer potential for hydroelectric power, and that's because there's a lot of rivers in that central region of Russia, including the Volga River, the longest river in Europe.

The far east and north have the strongest winds and therefore have the potential for wind energy.

On the Kamchatka Peninsula, there is volcanic activity, and therefore there's potential for geothermal energy to be captured.

And the south is especially suitable for solar energy production, and that's because there's a lot of sunlight in the south.

Russia has many ways to generate renewable energy.

Which is missing? Hydroelectric.

Well done if you noticed that.

Now, Russia does face challenges to increasing its use of renewable energy, and some of these challenges include the cost of the infrastructure development.

Many renewable energy sources are in hard to reach areas with harsh climates and sparse populations, and that's particularly in the northeast of the country, so in Siberia where there's a lot of permafrost.

The public awareness of the benefits of renewable energy.

Many Russians associate fossil fuels with national pride, economic strength, and energy security.

As a result, public trust in renewables is low, and there's limited pressure on the government to change course.

And energy prices are relatively low in Russia in comparison with most European countries.

Because they have a very good supply of their own fossil fuels, economically, it is easier to keep extracting those than it is to invest in using renewable energy.

Okay, we've got three statements here from Jacob, Aisha, and Jun.

I'd like you to read the statements and decide who is correct.

Aisha is correct here.

So Russia has some challenges to producing more energy from renewable energy sources.

Okay, so we're onto our final task for this lesson.

You're going to complete the fact sheets on renewable energy use in Russia.

So, first of all, for energy production, you're going to look at that pie chart and shade in the pie chart with colours.

Use whichever colours you have available to you, and you need to make sure that you shade in the key as well so that makes sense.

For renewable sources, I'd like you to add a source of renewable energy to each box and give a description of each one.

And finally, you are going to give some of the challenges to increasing the use of renewable energy sources in Russia.

So why is it difficult, or why has it been difficult for Russia to transition to using renewable energy? So pause the video and have a go at this final task.

Okay, so we've got some answers on the slide here.

So for the pie chart, we can see that fossil fuels should have been the largest one that you've shaded in, okay? And the nuclear and the renewables are kind of, you could have put either in those because they are roughly the same amount.

For a source of renewable energy, wind is energy captured by turbines, geothermal: heat from the ground is captured, hydro: power is captured from moving water, and solar: energy is captured from sunlight.

So well done if you got those correct.

And for some of the challenges of transitioning to renewable energy in Russia, there's the cost of the infrastructure development.

Many renewable resources are in hard to reach areas with harsh climates.

And there's also the difficulties in the public awareness of the benefits of renewable energy.

So here we have a summary for today's lesson.

Russia is an energy superpower and one of the world's top five producers of fossil fuels.

Russia exports significant quantities of fossil fuels to Europe and Asia.

Fossil fuels have brought challenges and opportunities for Russia in the short and long term, which can be categorised into social, economic, environmental, and political.

Renewable energy use in Russia is limited compared to the rest of the world, but it possesses significant potential, including wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and solar power.

Now, that's it from me today.

Fantastic job on today's lesson, and I'll see you next time, bye.