e-book

Solar energy : renewable energy and the environment

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The twenty-first century is rapidly becoming the “perfect energy storm”; modern society is faced
with volatile energy prices and growing environmental concerns, as well as energy supply and
security issues. Today’s society was founded on hydrocarbon fuel—a finite resource that already
is one of the main catalysts for international conflicts, which is likely to intensify in the future.
The global energy appetite is enormous, representing over $6 trillion per year, or about 13% of
global gross domestic product (GDP). Unfortunately, the vast majority of this energy is not efficiently
utilized for buildings, vehicles, or industry. This is especially true in the United States,
which has about double the per-capita and GDP energy usage rates as compared to the European
Union and Japan. The inefficient use of energy strongly exacerbates the global energy crisis. It
is time to shed the outdated “burn, baby, burn” hydrocarbon energy thinking with a new energy
vision; the time for clean energy solutions is here. Only through energy efficiency and renewable
energy technologies can modern civilization extricate itself from the gathering perfect energy
storm.

The new global energy realities have brought the highest energy prices in history. Sustained
price volatility will continue, with large spikes and drops of energy prices tracking global economic
trends. Peak oil is predicted by many within the next decade. The North American energy
infrastructure and workforce are aging. China and India are now new global energy customers
causing major impacts on primary fuel prices. By 2030, China is projected to import as much oil as
the United States does now. Trigger events such as blackouts, hurricanes, floods, and fires further
increase volatility due to tight supplies. Food, metal, and transportation prices are rising as a result
of increased energy demand.

In addition to costs and availability of fossil fuels, a worse panorama results from counting the
increase of the millions of tons per year of carbon dioxide emissions—the main gas precursor of the
greenhouse effect. Future CO2 emission increments will be originated mainly in developing countries
as population and industry grow. The current CO2 average concentration in the atmosphere
is about 400 parts per million (ppm)—the highest ever experienced by the Earth. Maintaining as
much reliance on fossil fuels as today, by 2050, such concentration may exceed 700 or 800 ppm.

At higher concentration, the few degrees gained in Earth’s average temperature exert several
grave impacts on food safety, water, the ecosystem, and the environment. Currently, only half a
Celsius degree increase has been enough for catastrophic natural disasters to occur. To limit sea
level rise to only 1 m and species loss to 20% by the end of this century, additional warming must be
limited to 1°C. This means stabilizing atmospheric CO2 at about 450–500 ppm. The United States is
the second largest emitter of CO2 emissions after China. The United States currently emits 23% of
global CO2 and needs to reduce CO2 by 60 to 80% by midcentury. If the Greenland ice sheet melted,
global sea level would rise 7 m; if East and West Antarctica ice sheets melt, sea levels would rise an
additional 70 m. Through the widespread burning of fossil fuels, humanity is creating the largest
ecological disaster since the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

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Ketersediaan

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

Energy and the environment

No. Panggil

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Penerbit

New York : Taylor and Francis Group, LLC., 2010

Deskripsi Fisik

TJ810.S4897 - 621.47--dc22

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

978-1-4200-7566-3

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subjek

ILMU LINGKUNGAN
ENERGI TERBARUKAN

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

agus

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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