Industrial Production: Elements, Energy, Regions
Goods Production
Elaborated products are not consumed directly; they are intermediate products that serve as feedstock for other industries. Heavy industry is characterized by handling huge amounts of product. Heavy industry requires large facilities, large amounts of manpower, and significant capital investment.
Light Industry
These industries produce goods for the market and consumers, such as footwear. Often called light industries because facilities are usually smaller and require less labor and capital than heavy industries.
Renewable Energy Sources
They are practically inexhaustible, such as the sun, water, and air.
Nonrenewable Energy Sources
These are found in limited quantities, so they can be depleted, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium.
Classification by Organization
- SA – Corporations: When the property is divided into stock.
- SL – Limited Company: When owned by one or more partners.
Elements of Industrial Production
- Raw materials and sources of energy
- Labor force
- Capital
- Technology
- Business organization
Types of Raw Materials
There are 3 types of raw materials: animal, vegetable, and mineral.
Animal Raw Materials
Extracted from animals, such as wool, skins, etc.
Vegetable Raw Materials
Agricultural, forest, or rubber products, such as cotton, wood, and rubber.
Mineral Raw Materials
Extracted from the subsoil.
- Metal: Metals are extracted, i.e., hematite, bauxite, iron, copper, gold, and silver.
- Non-metal: Other materials are obtained, such as salt and sulfur.
Energy Sources for Production
Energy used in production, such as coal, natural gas, uranium, and petroleum.
Traditional Energy Sources
Coal
A fossil fuel that originates from the decomposition of plant matter buried for millions of years. It is used mainly as fuel for thermal power production. Coal has been surpassed by other sources of energy such as oil and natural gas.
Oil
Oil is the most used energy source, has high energy density, and is easy to extract. It is used for electricity production and is also a raw material for the chemical industry, from which plastics are manufactured.
Natural Gas
It has an origin similar to petroleum formation and is often found together in fields. It is used as fuel or raw material in the chemical industry. It is less polluting.
Hydropower
The energy of water accumulated in reservoirs is used to generate electricity. Electricity is produced at hydroelectric plants, which should be located in suitable areas.
Nuclear Energy
In nuclear power plants, a reactor generates the heat required to produce electricity.
Alternative Energy Sources
Solar Energy (Photovoltaic)
Its advantages are that it is abundant, inexhaustible, and non-polluting, but its disadvantage is that the sun’s intensity is not equal throughout the Earth. It is used for hot water and electricity. Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into electricity.
Wind Energy
Obtained from the wind to generate electricity. It is renewable and does not pollute the atmosphere. Its disadvantages are that it is very localized and not regular; the wind is not constant.
Geothermal Energy
Harnesses the heat inside the Earth, particularly in volcanically active regions.
Tidal Energy
Based on using the movement of seawater caused by tides, waves, and currents. This technology is currently undeveloped.
Major Industrial Regions
Major regions include the northeastern U.S. and the southern Great Lakes. These areas are rich in iron and coal and developed steel and mechanical industries. The high-tech industry is concentrated on the Pacific Coast in California, as well as in other areas of the country’s South. The most important region in Europe is the Ruhr, Germany, which developed a powerful steel industry in the nineteenth century thanks to its coal mines. Today, this area is part of a large industrial region that extends from Britain to northern Italy.