Resource management: global and UK overview

Resources — food, water and energy — are the foundation of human wellbeing. AQA's resource management unit asks how the significance of these resources varies globally, and how the UK manages each.

Why food, water and energy matter

• Food — without enough nutrients, brains and bodies can't develop or function. Hunger affects ~735 m people (FAO, 2023).
• Water — needed for drinking, sanitation, agriculture (70 % of global use), industry. 2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water.
• Energy — powers everything from cooking to hospitals to factories. 760 million still lack electricity (IEA).

Global inequalities in resource consumption

A North American consumes about 9 times the energy of a sub-Saharan African. The richest 1 % emit more carbon than the poorest 50 %. Inequality matters because resource consumption drives both development and environmental damage (climate change, deforestation, water stress).

UK food

• The UK produces only 60 % of its food (down from 78 % in 1984).
• 40 % is imported. Examples: Kenyan green beans (energy-intensive air freight, 5 700 km), Spanish tomatoes, Caribbean bananas.
• Agribusiness — large-scale, high-input, intensive farming. Lynn Country Foods (Norfolk) — 750 ha, single-owner, mechanised cereal and root crop. Pros: high output, lower unit cost. Cons: hedgerow loss, soil compaction, pesticide and nitrate runoff.
• Organic farming — small but growing (3 % of UK farmland 2022). Riverford and Abel & Cole deliver to ~1 m homes.
• Seasonal demand — UK consumers expect strawberries year-round → imports from Egypt and Morocco out of season.

UK water

• Geographical mismatch — most rainfall is in the north and west (Scotland, Wales, Lake District). Most demand is in the south-east (London, the Thames Valley).
• Water stress — the south-east is officially water-stressed; the Environment Agency forecasts a 4 bn-litre/day shortfall by 2050 without action.
• Quality issues — agricultural runoff (nitrates, phosphates), sewer overflows in heavy rain (Thames Tideway "super-sewer", £4.3 bn).
• Transfer schemes — Kielder Reservoir (Northumberland, 200 bn litres) supplies the north-east. Proposed transfer pipelines from north to south.
• Ageing infrastructure — UK loses 3 bn litres/day to leaks (~24 % of supply).

UK energy

• Energy mix (2024) — gas ~30 %, renewables ~40 %, nuclear ~15 %, coal <2 %, biomass ~6 %.
• Coal — once dominant; final coal-fired plant (Ratcliffe-on-Soar) closed September 2024.
• North Sea oil and gas — peaked 1999; now in decline. UK now imports ~50 % of gas.
• Renewables — wind dominant (Hornsea Two, world's largest offshore farm at 1.4 GW); solar growing in the south.
• Nuclear — Hinkley Point C under construction; previous fleet (Sizewell, Heysham) ageing.
• Energy security concerns — Russia's invasion of Ukraine (2022) caused price spikes; LNG imports from Qatar/USA increased.

Examiner tips

• For 4-mark questions on UK food/water/energy, give one stat (60 % self-sufficiency, 4 bn-litre/day shortfall, 40 % renewables) plus an example.
• Always link supply to demand (e.g. wettest part of UK is Scottish Highlands, but most people live in the south-east).
• Renewables are the direction of travel — examiners reward awareness of the energy transition.