Introduction “What has become clear from the science is that we cannot burn all of the fossil fuels without creating a very different planet.” -James Hansen . Fuel plays a very significant role in the day to day aspects of life, to an extent where we see it trending as an essential need and a vital source for survival. Defiantly as the quote mentioned previously stands, we cannot consume these limited fuel sources without producing a mutant planet far from what we know of. However, we could rather prevent these outcomes from occurring through the many other alternatives, that is, through green initiatives taken through smaller steps to a better tomorrow. All countries use a lot of natural resources that potentially can affect the planet and …show more content…
Innovations such as nuclear energy must be improved to transform it into a renewable source by discovering the process fusion. Currently we are producing energy through fission (a process of splitting and atom), Fusion on the other hand is the process where a split atom is fused together to produce energy; it does not produce any waste . We must also switch to recycling our resources rather than producing from virgin resources. To produce an aluminium can, consumes 225 WH using virgin materials, while producing from recycled cans consumes 95% less energy . The investments for products such as graphene supercapacitors and others should be provided with grants and subsidies so that their usage can be more extensive because they are cheaper to produce, more efficient and/or more environmentally friendly. In the distant future, we will be able innovate hydrogen cell technology which will revolutionize the energy sector of the world. The problem with hydrogen related technology is that it is the most abundant element and may become a thorn for those countries that depend on oil to provide themselves with economic growth. Countries should focus on investment that benefits both the economy and the environment in the most effective way possible. Personal
With every passing year, human beings are emitting more and greenhouse gases than the previous year. The world right now is at a stage where there is no time to look back and wait for things to happen on its own. We should try everything possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so that enough opportunities are made available for future generation and there is scope for sustainable development by proper utilization and not by exploitation. The poorest of all should have hope for a better future.
Our energy needs have significantly changed since the first Industrial Revolution that took place in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. Before this time period, our energy needs were modest. For heat, people relied on the energy of the sun, but when it failed them, they burned wood, straw and dried dung. For transportation horses and the power of the wind was used in sails. For agricultural work animals were used to do the jobs that could not be done with man labor. By harnessing the power of steam and wind simple machines could be run to grind our grain and pump our water. The Second Industrial Revolution, also called the Technological Revolution is considered to have begun around the time of the introduction of the Bessemer steel in the 1860s. This technological Revolution is considered as the second phase of the Industrial Revolution that resulted in factory electrification, mass production, the creation of production lines and the development of machine tools. With the appearance of the low cost automobile and the wide spread of electricity our society's energy needs have changed forever. Since the modest beginning of the oil industry in the mid 19th century, petroleum has risen to global dominance leading to mass consumption as the primary fuel to generate electricity, heat, to power our homes, cars and to support economic growth. Unfortunately, as a consequence of industrialization, atmospheric CO2 levels started to rise in proportion to the usage of fossil fuels. This trend raises some concerns about the well being of our environment, and researchers around the world started to look for alternative, cle...
Fossil fuels are the basis of the world economy, providing electricity and transportation for many. It is undeniable that fossil fuels have raised the standard of living and uplifted impoverished communities by providing clean water and electricity. However, it is also a known fact that burning fossil fuels endangers the health of the public, contributes to climate change, and creates unsafe habitants for marine and wildlife. Burning fossil fuels introduces more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, warming the earth, melting glaciers and the polar ice caps, acidifying the oceans, and finally raising the sea levels. This dominos affect from burning fossil fuels will create an inhabitable earth. By subsidizing fossil fuel companies it allows for
Many negative impacts have resulted from global warming, but many positive changes have been made by humanity. There have been many ideas on what humans can do to improve on the green house gases and CO2 emissions we create and where it can lead us to. For example, reducing CO2 emissions have been giving many thoughts of what could cause the upraising of green house gases. One of the main sources is automobile emissions. The makers of Shell Gasoline Corporation, a Fortu...
When most people think of fossil fuel use, they think of personal transportation. There are many ways to reduce your transportation energy use. For short distances, walking and biking are healthy alternatives to using a fossil fuel using vehicle. In many areas, public transportation can also be an option. Electric cars are also an efficient alternative in the right areas. The biggest issue with electric cars is the ability to charge the vehicle away from home. Another concern with these vehicles is their limited driving range. Buying a diesel car to reduce your dependence on fossil fuels is another alternative. Diesels can run on biodiesel fuels or entirely from non-fossil fuel based ingredients. Most diesels require little or no mechanical conversion to run on biodiesel fuel, which is becoming more readily available at gas stations across...
In this paper, we focus on using fossil fuels causing climate change. Fossil fuels are fuels formed natural resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas, which are the most widely used fuel and industrial chemicals in the world. Since industrial revolution, fossil fuels bring a very great quantity convenience and technological products. So we can use cars, planes and all modern products. But fossil fuels cause climate change at the same time. Greenhouse gas, nitrous oxides and a great deal of harmful gas which are from fossil fuels are causing serious environmental problems. Therefore we need to be concerned about the problems caused by fossil fuels and the solutions.
From the home to factories, families and industries are reliant on the use of nonrenewable fossil fuels to feed the needs of the everyday human. Fossil fuels are the main source of energy over clean, renewable sources such as the use of wind, solar energy, and water to power our homes, schools, and industries. In fact, about 85% of energy use comes from fossils fuels. The main reason being that using fossil fuels is cheaper than wind and solar energy. “For nearly two centuries, fossil fuels have been the cheapest source of energy” and widely abundant (Marburger, A global framework: international aspects of climate change). However, overtime fossil fuels will disappear due to the lack of time to replenish itself with the human races rapid use of it. Despite its current status of availability, there are many controversial issue in using fossil fuels; the most prominent issue being that it is the cause of rapid climate
The modern world is fuelled by oil (Youngquest, 1998). This reality has brought tremendous changes and developments that is continuously transforming the modern period, changing its lifestyles and economies in the last 200 years. However, these changes do not only paved for modernization and development, but it has also paved for the environmental crisis that the world is now facing (Bodley, 2008). Environmental crisis refers to the degradation of the environmental quality due to human intervention in natural processes. In other words, as human beings consume and deplete the resources of the world, our industrial by-products are piling up (Bodley, 2008). As such, it is important to stress the fact that environmental crisis is not only about environmental problems, but it is about the intertwined concerns regarding politics, economics, society and ideologies (Bodley 2008, p. 43).
Fossil fuel emissions are the main cause of global warming. We release over twenty billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, which increases the amount of heat trapped by the greenhouse effect, thereby contributing to global warming. The amount of fossil fuel remaining is limited. This will cause job losses in the fossil fuel industry. On the other hand, the United States has advanced technologies such as solar panels that can replace fossil fuel, which will cause the amount of green jo...
Over the last two centuries, humanity has become increasingly reliant on fossil fuels. Over that time, the consequences of constantly burning fossil fuels have accumulated into a threat to industrialized cities. The burning of fossil fuels causes acid rain to shower on cities and ecosystems around the world, tormenting their inhabitants. The increasingly deadly pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels has caused the deaths of many people around the world by causing respiratory problems. Not only has the pollution worsened, but the supply of fossil fuels is not limitless – as humanity’s reliance increases the supply decreases, and that is all the more reason to break humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels should be replaced with cleaner alternatives because fossil fuels cause environmental hazards, are non-renewable, and are detrimental to human health.
By releasing the huge amounts of carbon stored in fossil fuels over millions of years, we are distorting the natural carbon cycle. We are intensifying the natural greenhouse effect and turning it into a 'planetary menace' when it actually makes human life possible. Thus, the German climatologist Wilfred Bach writes, 'The carbon-dioxide problem becomes a central question for the co-existence of humans and the survival of mankind.' If we do not deal with our problems now, such as global warming, the consequences will amplify and the consequences could mean our health, our life, our future.
The world is extremely hanging on fossil fuels such as liquid fuels, coal and natural gas. Figure.1 shows that the world will continue to be dependent on fossil fuels in the future. The inordinate consumption of fossil fuels is draining the reserves. Accordingly, the fossil fuels are becoming more pricey. Even so, the most important concern about the enormous use of fossil fuels is not their prices; it is their negative environmental outcomes. With the combustion of fossil fuels, huge amounts of 〖CO〗_2 are released into the atmosphere. These emissions are considered as the main reason for global warming. The global warming consequences have already become visible to be seen as such the melting of glaciers in the poles and sea level uprise.
The burning of fossil fuels has greatly harmed our environment and is a leading cause as to why climate change has become such a threat to our way of living. In May of 2013, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million, an increase of more than 40 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This could cause the Arctic Ocean to be nearly ice-free during the summer by 2020(Overland and Wang, 2013).
Third, we are able to use non-fossil fuels. For example, there is solar energy. Solar energy does not emit carbon dioxide into the air, therefore we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Also solar energy is safer than any other energy like nuclear power.
Fossil fuels are energy that is in the form of coal, oil, or natural gas that comes from organisms from millions of years ago. The cycle to create fossil fuels takes millions of years to form and is therefore considered a nonrenewable resource of energy. Fossil fuels have been the primary source of energy for man ever since the age of machines, but one of “the main problem[s] with fossil fuels is that there is a limited amount of them” (Problem with Fossil Fuel). As countries become more developed, like the United States, they too will become more thirsty and dependent for fossil fuels. “In 2004, America spent approximately $270 billion to fufill its oil need.” and “90% of all transportation is fueled by oil” (Nakaya 10). With the global rate of fossil fuels going up it is inevitable that they are going to run out, forcing countries to choose an alternative energy source. The other huge problem with dependence on fossil fuels is the effect that the emissions have on the climate. Fossil fuels are made of carbon chains and in order for the reaction...