When should paper 3 be attempted?

After papers 1 and 2 with concepts clear, as it trains cross-concept synthesis and policy evaluation.

What makes a policy answer complete?

Name the measure, who is affected and its limits, and support it with figures instead of a slogan.

S6 Geography | Energy Resource Management Practice Paper 3 (Challenge)

2026-11-03

Think like a planner: reserve margin, storage hours, emissions and carbon cost, then the debates on carbon tax, green hydrogen and life-cycle assessment.

Attempt first, mark afterwards　Allow about thirty-five minutes; state assumptions and units, do the arithmetic, then add one line on the policy meaning.

01　Paper details (check answers afterwards)

Item	Detail
Questions	10 items
Suggested time	About 35 minutes
Difficulty mix	Foundation 3 · Intermediate 3 · Challenge 3 · Error redo 1
Chapter	Chapter: S6 Geography \| Energy Resource Management
Level	S6 (Secondary 6) Geography

02　Questions (10 items)

FoundationPeak demand is 6 GW and the reserve margin is 20 per cent. How much installed capacity is needed?
FoundationWhy is comparing wind, solar and nuclear by capacity factor alone unfair?
IntermediateA battery stores 400 MWh with 100 MW of power. How long can it discharge at full power?
IntermediateA factory uses 2 GWh a year and the grid emits 0.6 kg CO2 per kWh. What are its annual emissions?
IntermediateIf those emissions must fall by 35 per cent, what is the target?
ChallengeWith a carbon price of 50 dollars a tonne, what is the factory annual carbon cost?
ChallengeWhat are the main weaknesses of a carbon tax and of renewable subsidies?
ChallengeWhat is the main bottleneck of green hydrogen as a storage medium?
FoundationWhich three stages must a life-cycle comparison of energy sources cover?
Error redoIs the statement that nuclear power is zero carbon accurate?

03　Answers and one-line notes

#	Answer	One-line note
1	7 200 MW	6 000 times 1.2 equals 7 200 MW; the margin covers maintenance and forced outages.
2	Nuclear is dispatchable baseload, while wind and solar depend on weather and need backup or storage	A fair comparison also weighs dispatchable capacity, system integration cost and emissions cut.
3	4 hours	400 MWh divided by 100 MW equals 4 hours, which decides whether it can cover the evening peak.
4	1 200 tonnes	2 000 000 kWh times 0.6 is 1 200 000 kg, that is 1 200 tonnes.
5	780 tonnes	1 200 times 0.65 equals 780 tonnes, a cut of 420 tonnes a year.
6	60 000 dollars	1 200 times 50 is 60 000 dollars, falling to 39 000 if emissions drop to 780 tonnes.
7	A tax is politically unpopular and hits low-income groups harder; subsidies strain the budget and invite rent seeking	Either way, grid and storage investment is needed or the price signal will not cut emissions.
8	Round-trip efficiency through electrolysis, compression, transport and re-generation is only about one third	Green hydrogen therefore suits hard-to-electrify heavy industry and shipping rather than ordinary storage.
9	Fuel extraction or equipment manufacture, operation, and decommissioning with waste handling	Counting operating emissions alone understates the embodied carbon of solar and nuclear.
10	Not quite: operation is near zero, but uranium mining, enrichment, construction and waste handling emit	The accurate wording is low-carbon in operation, with a measurable whole-life footprint.

04　What to do after marking

After marking, redo only the wrong items and write down which step went wrong (formula, unit, or misread number).
Repeat the same item two days later; move to the next paper only when both attempts are correct.
Parents only need the answer and note columns; there is no need to explain every item.

Need a tutor for this chapter? Register here Tutor Registration →

Questions and answers are written originally by the TutorZone team and are not taken from any school, publisher or examination authority paper. Every value is checked by computer.