1. Synoptic!
Think BIG PICTURE

2. You’ve got everything you need in the
booklet
• You’ll get a clean copy of the booklet in the
exam
• You must use it!

3. Big picture synoptic theme 1
• Climate change
– Global warming is the reason behind these difficult
choices.
– If it wasn’t for the scientific knowledge about climate
change and the influence of greenhouse gas emissions
we’d be burning coal (lots of it and cheap)
– We’ve ratified the Kyoto Protocol so we are legally
bound to reduce emissions
– It’s different for the Americans, who haven’t ratified
Kyoto, they don’t worry about CO2 emissions!

4. Big picture synoptic theme 2
• Economic crisis
– European countries are concerned about their
economic future – energy is vital to growth
– They need to keep costs down

5. Big picture synoptic theme 3
• Sustainable development
– Don’t forget to get a definition of sustainable
development in if relevant! “meets the needs of
today without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”.
– Whatever solutions are used they have to be
sustainable economically, socially and
environmentally.

6. A solution which isn’t mentioned
(you should)
• Cutting demand:
– Insulation (Green Deal in UK is supporting
householders improve insulation)
– Improving efficiency - modern engines and boilers
are continually improving efficiency (Government
has encouraged efficiency through road tax
reductions for lower emissions cars)
– Switch to renewables (Green Deal supporting
householders to install solar, Government
subsidising offshore wind)

7. Don’t forget - There is no magic bullet!
• No one solution is likely to resolve the
problems
– They’re not all equally useful/available in different
parts of Europe
– Being reliant on any one form makes countries
vulnerable to market changes/competition for
resources
– All the “solutions” have pros and cons