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GCSE Questions: Energy Sources

Q13.All European Union countries are expected to generate 20% of their electricity using renewable energy sources by 2020.

The estimated cost of generating electricity in the year 2020 using different energy sources is shown below:

Energy source

Estimated cost (in the year 2020)

in pence per kWh
Nuclear
7.8
Solar
25.3
Tidal
18.8
Wind
10.0

 

France generated 542 billion kWh of electricity using nuclear power stations in 2011.

France used 478 billion kWh of electricity and sold the rest of the electricity to other countries in 2011.

(a) France may continue generating large amounts of electricity using nuclear power stations instead of using renewable energy resources. Suggest two reasons why.

[2 marks]

(b) Give two disadvantages of generating electricity using nuclear power stations.

[2 marks]

(c) A panel of solar cells has an efficiency of 0.15

The total power input to the panel of solar cells is 3.2 kW.

Calculate the useful power output of this panel of solar cells in kW.

[2 marks]

(d) The table below shows the manufacturing cost and efficiency of different types of panels of solar cells.

Type of Solar Panel
Cost to manufacture a 1 m2 solar panel / £
Efficiency / %
A
40.00
20
B
22.50
15
C
5.00
10

 

Some scientists think that having a low manufacturing cost is more important than improving the efficiency of solar cells. Use information from the above table to suggest why.

[2 marks]

(Total 8 marks)