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A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material such as coal, oil, and natural gas, formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. Fossil fuels may be burned to provide heat for use directly, to power engines, or to generate electricity. Some fossil fuels are refined into derivatives such as kerosene, gasoline and propane before burning. The origin of fossil fuels is the anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing organic molecules created by photosynthesis. The conversion from these materials to high-carbon fossil fuels typically require a geological process of millions of years.
Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and/or scrap. In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon are removed from the sourced iron, and alloying elements such as manganese, nickel, chromium, carbon and vanadium are added to produce different grades of steel.
Alternative fuels, also known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are fuels derived from sources other than petroleum. Alternative fuels include gaseous fossil fuels like propane, natural gas, methane, and ammonia; biofuels like biodiesel, bioalcohol, and refuse-derived fuel; and other renewable fuels like hydrogen and electricity.
The hydrogen economy is an umbrella term that draws together the roles hydrogen can play alongside renewable electricity to decarbonize specific economic sectors, sub-sectors and activities which may be technically difficult to decarbonize through other means, or where cheaper and more energy-efficient clean solutions are not available. In this context, hydrogen economy encompasses hydrogen’s production through to end-uses in ways that substantively contribute to avoiding the use of fossil fuels and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenhouse gas emissions and social and economic aspects such as energy poverty. Renewable energy sources such as wind, hydroelectric power, solar, and geothermal energy are generally far more sustainable than fossil fuel sources. However, some renewable energy projects, such as the clearing of forests to produce biofuels, can cause severe environmental damage.
Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change. This action either reduces emissions of greenhouse gases or removes those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global temperature is mostly due to emissions from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. There are various ways that mitigation can reduce emissions. These are transitioning to sustainable energy sources, conserving energy, and increasing efficiency. It is possible to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This can be done by enlarging forests, restoring wetlands and using other natural and technical processes. The name for these processes is carbon sequestration. Governments and companies have pledged to reduce emissions to prevent dangerous climate change. These pledges are in line with international negotiations to limit warming.
Aircraft engines produce gases, noise, and particulates from fossil fuel combustion, raising environmental concerns over their global effects and their effects on local air quality. Jet airliners contribute to climate change by emitting carbon dioxide, the best understood greenhouse gas, and, with less scientific understanding, nitrogen oxides, contrails and particulates. Their radiative forcing is estimated at 1.3–1.4 that of CO2 alone, excluding induced cirrus cloud with a very low level of scientific understanding. In 2018, global commercial operations generated 2.4% of all CO2 emissions.
A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mid-20th century. Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause long-lasting changes around the world, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive, and irreversible effects for people and ecosystems. Shifting to a low-carbon economy on a global scale could bring substantial benefits both for developed and developing countries. Many countries around the world are designing and implementing low-emission development strategies (LEDS). These strategies seek to achieve social, economic, and environmental development goals while reducing long-term greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resilience to the effects of climate change.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide, from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is one of the most important factors in causing climate change. The largest emitters are China followed by the United States. The United States has higher emissions per capita. The main producers fueling the emissions globally are large oil and gas companies. Emissions from human activities have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by about 50% over pre-industrial levels. The growing levels of emissions have varied, but have been consistent among all greenhouse gases. Emissions in the 2010s averaged 56 billion tons a year, higher than any decade before. Total cumulative emissions from 1870 to 2017 were 425±20 GtC from fossil fuels and industry, and 180±60 GtC from land use change. Land-use change, such as deforestation, caused about 31% of cumulative emissions over 1870–2017, coal 32%, oil 25%, and gas 10%.
Fossil fuel phase-out is the gradual reduction of the use and production of fossil fuels to zero, to reduce deaths and illness from air pollution, limit climate change, and strengthen energy independence. It is part of the ongoing renewable energy transition, but is being hindered by fossil fuel subsidies.
The economics of climate change mitigation is a contentious part of the economics of climate change related to climate change mitigation – actions that aim to mitigate the dangerous socio-economic and environmental consequences of climate change.
A carbon fee and dividend or climate income is a system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change. The system imposes a carbon tax on the sale of fossil fuels, and then distributes the revenue of this tax over the entire population as a monthly income or regular payment.
The Energiewende is the ongoing transition by Germany to a low carbon, environmentally sound, reliable, and affordable energy supply. The new system intends to rely heavily on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy demand management.
An energy transition is a significant structural change in an energy system regarding supply and consumption. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. It is also called renewable energy transition. The current transition is driven by a recognition that global greenhouse-gas emissions must be drastically reduced. This process involves phasing-down fossil fuels and re-developing whole systems to operate on low carbon electricity. A previous energy transition took place during the industrial revolution and involved an energy transition from wood and other biomass to coal, followed by oil and most recently natural gas.
The carbon bubble is a hypothesized bubble in the valuation of companies dependent on fossil-fuel-based energy production, resulting from future decreases in value of fossil fuel reserves as they become unusable in order to meet carbon budgets and recognition of negative externalities of carbon fuels which are not yet taken into account in a company's stock market valuation.
The German Climate Action Plan 2050 is a climate protection policy document approved by the German government on 14 November 2016. The plan outlines measures by which Germany can meet its various national greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals through to 2050 and service its international commitments under the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), under minister Barbara Hendricks, led the development of the plan. The plan was progressively watered down since a draft was first leaked in early May 2016. Projections from the environment ministry in September 2016 indicate that Germany will likely miss its 2020 climate target.
Coal, cars and lorries vent more than a third of Turkey's five hundred million tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions—mostly carbon dioxide—and are part of the cause of climate change in Turkey. The nation's coal-fired power stations emit the most carbon dioxide, and other significant sources are road vehicles running on petrol or diesel. After coal and oil the third most polluting fuel is fossil gas; which is burnt in Turkey's gas-fired power stations, homes and workplaces. Much methane is belched by livestock; cows alone produce half of the greenhouse gas from agriculture in Turkey.
The Shift Project is a French nonprofit created in 2010 that aims to limit both climate change and the dependency of our economy on fossil fuels.
China's greenhouse gas emissions are the largest of any country in the world both in production and consumption terms, and stem mainly from coal burning, including coal-fired power stations, coal mining, and blast furnaces producing iron and steel. When measuring production-based emissions, China emitted over 14 gigatonnes (Gt) CO2eq of greenhouse gases in 2019, 27% of the world total. When measuring in consumption-based terms, which adds emissions associated with imported goods and extracts those associated with exported goods, China accounts for 13 gigatonnes (Gt) or 25% of global emissions.
Greenhouse gas emissionsbyRussia are mostly from fossil gas, oil and coal. Russia emits 2 or 3 billion tonnes CO2eq of greenhouse gases each year; about 4% of world emissions. Annual carbon dioxide emissions alone are about 12 tons per person, more than double the world average. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore air pollution in Russia, would have health benefits greater than the cost. The country is the world's biggest methane emitter, and 4 billion dollars worth of methane was estimated to leak in 2019/20.
References
- ↑ "Energy Transitions Commission launches". ETC. October 2015. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
- ↑ "Mission Possible report summary" (PDF). ETC. November 2018. p. 4.
- ↑ "ETC Position Paper and INDC Assessment published". ETC. ETC. April 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ↑ "Sources and Acknowledgements". The Economist. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ↑ "Better Energy Greater Prosperity – Achievable pathways to low-carbon energy systems" (PDF). ETC. April 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
- ↑ "Mission Possible – Reaching net-zero carbon emissions from harder to abate sectors by mid-century" (PDF). energy-transitions.org. ETC. November 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
- ↑ Brown, Trevor (17 January 2019). "Mission Possible: decarbonizing ammonia". ammoniaindustry.com. Ammonia Industry blog. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ↑ "Reaching Net Zero Emissions From the Cement Industry Sector is Possible by Mid Century". concretedecor.net. Concrete Decor Magazine. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ↑ "Mission possible : but no time to waste". bioplasticsmagazine.com. BioPlastic Magazine. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ↑ "Shell-funded Energy Transitions Commission 'lacks credibility'". Carbon Tracker. Carbon Tracker. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- 1 2 3 "About ETC". ETC. ETC. October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
- ↑ "Despite oil-industry past ETC foresees a full renewable future". UC Berkeley. RAEL. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "ETC release 'Mission Impossible" (PDF). ETC. ETC. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- 1 2 "ETC who we are Apr 2018". ETC. 14 April 2018. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- 1 2 "ETC who we are Nov 2017". ETC. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "ETC press release" (PDF). ETC. ETC. April 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 "ETC who we are Feb 2017". ETC. 13 February 2017. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 "ETC who we are May 2016". ETC. 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "ETC who we are Mar 2016". ETC. 16 March 2016. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "ETC who we are Sept 2015". ETC. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ↑ "ETC who we are Aug 2017". ETC. 19 August 2017. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2019.