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IGCSE Environmental Management Paper 2 — Topic 1 Natural resources — Challenge

Environmental Management in Context — Topic 1 Challenge — source led
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This paper covers the whole of Topic 1. Every question hangs off a source on the page, and the questions are not in syllabus order and are not one question per sub-topic. Material from 1.1 to 1.6 is mixed across every question, exactly as Cambridge mixes it. Paper 2 carries 40 of every 100 marks on AO3, analysis and evaluation, so the marks are in what you do with the source, not in what you already knew before you saw it.

Instructions

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Question 1 — Source A, changing electricity generation
Total: 10 marks
SOURCE A — Electricity generated in country W, by energy resource, 2010 and 2024
Source A — electricity generated in country W by energy resource, 2010 and 2024 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 coal 148 74 natural gas 62 96 nuclear 40 38 hydro 30 32 wind 12 68 solar 2 44 Electricity generated / TWh per year Energy resource 2010 2024
Each bar shows the electricity generated in one year from that resource, in terawatt hours (TWh). Country W generated 294 TWh in total in 2010 and 352 TWh in total in 2024. Figures are constructed for practice and are not measurements from a named country.
(a)[1]
Using Source A, identify the energy resource whose output fell by the largest amount between 2010 and 2024, and state that fall in TWh.
Model Answer — (a)
coal, a fall of 74 TWh (from 148 to 74)
both the resource and the figure with its unit are needed for the mark
nuclear also fell, but only from 40 to 38, a fall of 2 TWh
⚠ If you missed marks here: an identify question from a source wants the number as well as the name, and the unit as well as the number. Coal alone, or 74 alone, is half an answer. Read the key before you read the bars — there are two bars in every group and only one of them is 2010.
(b)[2]
Calculate the percentage of country W’s total electricity that came from renewable resources in 2024. Give your answer to 3 significant figures and show your working.
Model Answer — (b)
renewables shown here are hydro, wind and solar: 32 + 68 + 44 = 144 TWh
144 ÷ 352 × 100  M1 for the correct fraction of the stated total
= 40.9%  A1
the working mark is available even if the arithmetic slips, so always write the fraction down
⚠ If you missed marks here: two errors are common. The first is including nuclear in the renewables, which would give 51.7% instead of 40.9% — nuclear power using uranium is classified as non-renewable at 1.4.2(b), because uranium is a mined finite ore. The second is dividing by the sum of the six bars you happened to add up rather than by the stated total of 352 TWh. The caption gives you the total; use it.
(c)[3]
Describe the changes shown in Source A between 2010 and 2024. Use figures from the chart in your answer.
Model Answer — (c)
coal roughly halved, from 148 to 74 TWh, and it changed from being the largest resource to the second largest
wind and solar together rose eightfold, from 14 TWh (12 + 2) to 112 TWh (68 + 44)
natural gas rose from 62 to 96 TWh, so the fall in coal was not matched by a fall in fossil fuels as a whole
accept: nuclear and hydro barely changed, 40 to 38 and 30 to 32 TWh
accept: total generation rose from 294 to 352 TWh, so demand grew over the period
1 mark per point, maximum 3. An answer with no figures in it is capped at 1 mark overall
⚠ If you missed marks here: a describe question on a source is marked for figures. "Coal went down and wind went up" is correct and earns one mark at most, because it could have been written without looking at the chart. Quote a pair of numbers rather than a single one, so the marker can see the comparison you are making. The point most often missed is gas: it is easy to read the fall in coal as a fall in fossil fuels, but gas rose by 34 TWh over the same period, which is most of what coal gave up.
(d)[2]
A student looks at Source A and writes: "By 2024, more than half of country W’s electricity came from resources that will never run out."
Explain why the student is wrong, using a figure from the chart.
Model Answer — (d)
the student has counted nuclear as a resource that will not run out. Nuclear power using uranium is classified as non-renewable, because uranium is a mined ore and is a finite resource  (1)
the renewable resources shown — hydro, wind and solar — supplied 144 of 352 TWh, which is 40.9%, so it is less than half, not more  (1)
with nuclear added the figure would be 51.7%, which is where the student’s claim comes from
⚠ If you missed marks here: this is the arithmetic trap in the whole source, and it is put there on purpose. The student’s number is not a slip — 51.7% really is more than half. The error is in the classification, not the addition. Nuclear generation releases almost no carbon dioxide, which is why people file it with wind and solar, but low carbon and renewable are two different claims. Renewable is about whether the fuel is replaced; uranium is dug out of the ground and is not. Say which resource was misclassified and give the corrected figure — the mark scheme wants both.
(e)[2]
State two things that Source A does not tell you about country W’s energy.
Model Answer — (e)
it shows only electricity, so it says nothing about energy used for transport, for heating buildings or for industrial processes, which is most of a country’s energy use
it gives no carbon dioxide emissions, so the environmental effect of the change cannot be read off it directly
it shows two years only, so it gives no information about the path between them — the change could have been steady or all in one year
it says nothing about imported electricity, or about how reliable each resource is through the day and through the year
it gives no cost, so it cannot tell you what the change was worth or what it took
any 2 of these, 1 mark each
⚠ If you missed marks here: this is an AO3 mark and it is reliable once you have a habit for it. Ask what a decision maker would still need to know before acting on the chart. The mistake to avoid is naming something the chart does show — "it does not show how much solar there was" is not an answer, because it does. The strongest answer here is the first: this is a chart about electricity, and electricity is only part of the energy a country uses.
Question 2 — Source B, falling ore grade at a copper mine
Total: 10 marks
SOURCE B — One copper mine: ore grade and what it costs to work, by decade
DecadeOre grade
/ % copper by mass		Rock processed per tonne
of copper / tonnes		Energy used per tonne
of copper / GJ		Water used per tonne
of copper / m3
1990s1.6062.53070
2000s1.1090.94295
2010s0.80125.058128
2020s0.55181.879170
The mine has worked the same deposit since the 1980s. Ore grade is the percentage of the rock, by mass, that is copper. The other three columns are averages for that decade, given per tonne of copper produced. Figures are constructed for practice and are not measurements from a named mine.
(a)[1]
Using Source B, state the ore grade of the copper being mined in the 2020s.
Model Answer — (a)
0.55% copper by mass
the unit or the words "per cent copper" are needed; the bare number 0.55 is not an ore grade
⚠ If you missed marks here: read the column heading, not just the column. Every number in this table is per tonne of copper except the first, and the first is a percentage. Quoting 181.8, the rock figure, would be answering the wrong column.
(b)[2]
Calculate how many times more rock had to be processed per tonne of copper in the 2020s than in the 1990s. Give your answer to 3 significant figures and show your working.
Model Answer — (b)
181.8 ÷ 62.5  M1 for the correct division, the later value over the earlier one
= 2.91 times  A1
accept 2.91 or 2.9; do not accept the subtraction 181.8 − 62.5 = 119.3, which answers "how much more", not "how many times more"
⚠ If you missed marks here: the phrase is how many times more, which asks for a ratio, so the operation is a division. If you subtracted, you have answered a different question and you lose both marks even though the arithmetic was right. Write the division out before you touch the calculator: the working mark survives a slip in the answer, and it costs one line.
(c)[3]
Describe the relationship shown in Source B between ore grade and the resources needed to produce copper. Use figures in your answer.
Model Answer — (c)
as the ore grade falls, from 1.60% to 0.55%, the amount of rock that must be processed to obtain one tonne of copper rises, from 62.5 to 181.8 tonnes — the relationship is inverse
energy use rises with it, from 30 to 79 GJ per tonne of copper, a rise of about 163%
water use rises in the same way, from 70 to 170 m3 per tonne of copper
accept: the rise is accelerating — the rock figure rises by 28.4 tonnes between the 1990s and the 2000s but by 56.8 tonnes between the 2010s and the 2020s
1 mark per point, maximum 3, and the first point must state the direction of both variables
⚠ If you missed marks here: the word the mark scheme is waiting for is inverse, or the same idea in your own words: as one goes down the other goes up. Describing the two columns separately — grade falls, energy rises — without ever saying that they are linked is the answer that loses the first mark. The second thing to notice is that the rise is not steady. Going from 125.0 to 181.8 tonnes takes one decade, and it is a much bigger step than the first decade’s. An accelerating trend is always worth pointing out; it is the kind of detail that separates a full-mark description.
(d)[3]
Explain why a falling ore grade has the effects shown in Source B.
Model Answer — (d)
a lower grade means each tonne of rock contains less copper, so more rock must be mined, crushed and processed to obtain the same one tonne of metal  (1)
crushing and grinding rock is where most of the energy goes, so processing nearly three times as much rock uses correspondingly more energy, and the water is needed to separate the copper minerals from the crushed rock, so more rock means more water  (1)
the rock that is not copper becomes waste, so the volume of spoil rises, a larger area must be cleared for the pit and for the waste heaps, and habitat loss, dust and drainage from the waste all increase  (1)
accept for the third mark: the cost per tonne of copper rises, which feeds back into 1.2.3 as a factor in whether extraction continues at all
⚠ If you missed marks here: this is an explain question, so every mark sits on a link rather than on a fact. The chain is short and worth memorising: lower grade → more rock per tonne of metal → more crushing → more energy, more water, more waste. The commonest incomplete answer stops after the first arrow, states that more rock is needed and then jumps straight to "so it is worse for the environment", which is the conclusion rather than the reason. Say what the extra rock actually causes.
(e)[1]
State one thing that Source B does not tell you.
Model Answer — (e)
it covers one mine, so it cannot be assumed to apply to copper mining everywhere
it gives no quantity produced, so the total energy, water and waste for the mine cannot be worked out from it
it says nothing about recycling, which supplies part of the copper used and needs far less energy than extraction from ore
it says nothing about how much copper is left in the deposit, or about cost, employment or restoration
any one of these scores
⚠ If you missed marks here: the trap is answering with something the table does show. Every column here is per tonne of copper, which is a rate, and a rate hides the total — that is the most valuable observation available and it is the same point as the population-size objection you would make about a chart of percentages.
Question 3 — Source C, solar output against demand
Total: 10 marks
SOURCE C — Electricity demand and solar output through one clear day in country X
Source C — electricity demand and solar output through one clear day, country X 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 24:00 Power / GW Time of day / hours (24 hour clock) demand solar output
Both lines are power, in gigawatts (GW), read at three-hourly intervals through a single clear day in June. The solid line is the electricity country X was using; the dashed line is the electricity its solar farms were producing. Figures are constructed for practice and are not measurements from a named country.
(a)[1]
Using Source C, identify the time of peak demand and state the demand at that time.
Model Answer — (a)
18:00, demand 42 GW
both the time and the figure with its unit are needed for the mark
⚠ If you missed marks here: read the key first. There are two lines and the higher one at midday is not the one asked for. The demand line peaks in the early evening at 18:00, not at midday when the solar line peaks.
(b)[2]
Calculate the percentage of country X’s electricity demand that was being met by solar output at 12:00. Give your answer to 3 significant figures and show your working.
Model Answer — (b)
24 ÷ 34 × 100  M1 for solar over demand at 12:00
= 70.6%  A1
the working mark is available even if the arithmetic slips
⚠ If you missed marks here: the fraction has to be the right way up. Solar is the part and demand is the whole, so it is solar ÷ demand. Dividing the other way gives 142% and should look wrong to you at once — a check worth running on every percentage: if the answer is over 100, one of the two numbers is in the wrong place.
(c)[3]
Describe the relationship between demand and solar output shown in Source C. Use figures from the graph in your answer.
Model Answer — (c)
the two peaks do not coincide: solar output peaks at 12:00 at 24 GW, while demand peaks six hours later at 18:00 at 42 GW
at the moment of peak demand, solar is supplying only 2 GW, leaving a shortfall of 40 GW to be met from other resources
solar output is zero from about 21:00 until 03:00, while demand never falls below 20 GW — so the resource produces nothing for roughly a third of the day and demand never stops
accept: solar covers a large share of demand in the middle of the day, 70.6% at 12:00, but the share falls away rapidly on either side
1 mark per point, maximum 3. An answer with no figures is capped at 1 mark overall
⚠ If you missed marks here: the point that earns the most credit is that the two peaks are at different times, and it is the one people skip because it feels too obvious to write down. Say it, and then attach numbers to it: 24 GW at 12:00 against 42 GW at 18:00. The other easy mark is the overnight period, because a line sitting on the axis is still data — zero for nine hours is one of the most important facts on this graph.
(d)[3]
Explain how battery storage would help country X to use more of its solar output. Refer to Source C in your answer.
Model Answer — (d)
in the middle of the day solar is producing 24 GW while demand is 34 GW, so the surplus that would otherwise be wasted, or force the solar farms to be turned down, can be stored in batteries instead  (1)
that stored electricity can then be released in the evening, at around 18:00, when solar output has fallen to 2 GW but demand has risen to 42 GW  (1)
so less of the evening shortfall of 40 GW has to be met by burning gas or coal, which reduces the carbon dioxide released and reduces the amount of fossil-fuelled capacity the country has to keep available  (1)
accept for the third mark: storage moves the supply in time rather than increasing it, so it treats the intermittency of solar rather than the quantity of solar
⚠ If you missed marks here: this is an explain question and each mark is a link in a chain: surplus at midday → stored → released in the evening → less fossil generation needed at the peak. The commonest incomplete answer says "batteries store energy for later", which is a definition of a battery rather than an explanation of what it does for this graph. Use the figures. The question says refer to Source C, which means the mark scheme expects the midday surplus and the evening shortfall to appear as numbers. Note also what storage does not do: it does not make more solar electricity, it moves it, which is why it belongs in 1.5.1 under managing energy rather than in 1.4 as a resource.
(e)[1]
State one reason why a decision about country X’s energy policy should not be based on Source C alone.
Model Answer — (e)
it is one day, and a clear day in June, so it shows solar at close to its best. A cloudy day, or a day in December, would give far lower output and a different shape
it shows a single resource — there is no wind, hydro, nuclear or gas on the graph, so the rest of the supply is invisible
it gives no cost, so it cannot say whether storage is a better use of money than another option
readings are three hours apart, so a sharper peak between two readings would not appear
any one of these scores
⚠ If you missed marks here: the strongest answer is the seasonal one, and it comes from reading the caption rather than the graph. The caption says one clear day in June, and every word of that is doing work: one day gives no average, clear gives the best case, and June gives the longest day of the year. Always read the caption of a source before you answer an evaluation question — the limitation is usually written there.
Question 4 — Source D, a proposed shale gas site
Total: 10 marks
SOURCE D — A proposed shale gas site at Ashcombe
Source D — sketch map of the proposed shale gas site at Ashcombe R. Ash irrigated farmland Ashcombe pop. 1400 well pad shale B41 nature reserve N 0 1 2 km KEY proposed well pad extent of shale at depth village irrigated farmland farm borehole river nature reserve road
Country Y imports 70% of the natural gas it uses. A company has applied for a licence to extract gas from the shale beneath Ashcombe. The region has low rainfall, and the farms shown draw their irrigation water from boreholes into the rock below. One square of the scale bar is 1 km. The map is constructed for practice and Ashcombe is not a real place.
(a)[2]
Using Source D and its key, state two features that lie within 2 km of the proposed well pad.
Model Answer — (a)
any 2 from: the village of Ashcombe; the irrigated farmland; the farm boreholes; the river Ash; the nature reserve; the B41 road
measure against the scale bar rather than judging by eye; every feature named in the key is inside 2 km of the pad on this map
a feature named without using the key, for example "some houses", is accepted only if it is unambiguous
⚠ If you missed marks here: two marks for reading a key is the cheapest pair of marks on any Paper 2, and they are lost by not using the key at all. Name the features in the words the key uses. Note also the instruction within 2 km — that is why the scale bar is on the map, and a question that gives you a scale bar expects you to use it.
(b)[2]
The gas at Ashcombe is held in shale. Explain why the company has to fracture the rock instead of drilling an ordinary well into it.
Model Answer — (b)
shale is impermeable — its clay particles are so fine and flat that there are almost no connected pore spaces  (1)
so the gas cannot flow through the rock to an ordinary well. Fracturing opens a network of cracks through which the gas can flow to the well and up to the surface  (1)
accept for the first mark: shale is the named exception in 1.1.4, the one sedimentary rock classified as impermeable
⚠ If you missed marks here: the answer lives in 1.1.4, not in 1.6, which is why this question is here — Paper 2 mixes sub-topics inside one question set. The mark is for the word impermeable and for what impermeable means for the gas: it cannot move through the rock. It is also the reason the gas is still there after millions of years. Do not spend time on the drilling technique; 1.6 asks only for the definition and the discussion, so the marks are not in the engineering.
(c)[2]
Using Source D, explain why the water needed for the operation is a particular concern at this site.
Model Answer — (c)
fracking uses a very large volume of water — millions of litres per well — and this region has low rainfall, so there is little spare water to draw on  (1)
the map shows irrigated farmland supplied by boreholes into the rock below, so water taken for the wells is in direct competition with the farms, and a fall in the water table or contamination of the groundwater would reach the boreholes the farms depend on  (1)
accept: the river Ash runs through the site, so surface water could also be affected by a spill or by poorly handled waste fluid
⚠ If you missed marks here: this is an AO2 mark, which means the general knowledge only scores once it has been attached to this map. Writing "fracking uses a lot of water" is true everywhere and earns one mark at most. The second mark comes from the details you were given: low rainfall, irrigated farmland, boreholes into the rock below. Whenever a source gives you specifics like that, they are there to be used, not to be decorated around.
(d)[4]
Country Y imports 70% of its natural gas.
Discuss the benefits and limitations of granting this licence, and reach a supported judgement.
Model Answer — (d)
up to 3 marks for benefits and limitations, with at least one of each, and 1 mark for a judgement that is supported by what has gone before.
Benefits, any of:
energy security — the country currently imports 70% of its gas, so domestic production reduces exposure to disruption of supply and to price shocks from abroad
the gas is otherwise unobtainable, because it cannot be extracted from shale by conventional drilling, so this adds to the total resource available
jobs and contracts at Ashcombe, and tax and royalty income for the government
if the gas displaces coal-fired generation it releases roughly half the carbon dioxide and far less sulfur dioxide and particulate matter for the same electricity
Limitations, any of:
water use in a low rainfall region, in direct competition with the farm boreholes shown on the map
risk to groundwater and to the river Ash from the added chemicals and from the fluid that returns to the surface carrying dissolved salts
the well pad, the lorry traffic on the B41, noise, dust and lighting sit within 2 km of a village of 1400 people and beside a nature reserve
it is still a finite fossil fuel, so it extends the use of fossil fuels rather than replacing them, and investment in it may delay renewable alternatives
shale wells decline quickly, so many wells would be needed to keep output up, spreading the disturbance
Judgement, 1 mark:
names who gains and who bears the cost: the security of supply and the tax revenue are national, while the water, traffic, noise and contamination risk fall on Ashcombe and its farmers
or names the timescale: an individual well produces for a few years, while contaminated groundwater and the carbon dioxide released last much longer
or names what the decision turns on, for example that it depends on whether the gas replaces coal or replaces investment in renewables, or on whether the water can be supplied without drawing down the aquifer the farms use
a bare conclusion with nothing behind it scores 0 of the 1
⚠ If you missed marks here: two things cost marks on a question like this. The first is imbalance: three paragraphs against and one line for is not a discussion, and the mark scheme caps it. Cambridge is neutral here and expects both columns. The second is stopping before the judgement. The last mark is not for more content — it is for saying what the decision turns on. The frame from the Challenge Prep guide fits this question exactly: benefit, limitation, who bears the cost, over what timescale, judgement. And use the source: 70% imported, low rainfall, boreholes, a village of 1400, a nature reserve. An answer that would read the same for any fracking site anywhere has thrown away the AO2 marks.

Self-Assessment

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IGCSE Environmental Management 0680 — Paper 2 — Topic 1 Natural resources — Challenge
For examination preparation only. Not an official Cambridge Assessment paper.