ABSTRACT
The geography of the world’s oil and natural gas fields, the suitability of sites for the generation of hydro-electricity, and the pattern of the world’s coal deposits clearly have a fundamental relevance to the spatial patterns of energy production, trade and consumption. The variable nature of potential sites for the generation of hydro-electricity is a major influence in the costs and hence the geography of electricity generation. The essential role of energy resources in the geography of energy is two-fold. First, it imposes certain physical limitations upon the production of energy—reductio ad absurdum, oil can be pumped only from an oil pool. And, second, it powerfully influences the costs of obtaining energy at different places on the earth’s surface. The location of nuclear power stations in Britain illustrates concisely something of the variety of influences upon the geography of energy.
