MARCH 02, 2016: DAILY SUN
As far the human civilization has come to know, the planet, Earth of our solar system is the only planet favorable for the living creatures. Perhaps there have been many other planets in other solar systems under this infinite and ever expanding universe. But that still remains as the matter of science fiction movies and novels.
Human race have reached to this electronic and supersonic civilization through gradual development in knowledge, wisdom, science and technology. This planet once was dominated by wildlife and wild animals during the old stone, new stone, iron and bronze ages. Civilization was not as widespread and universal as of during the last two thousand years or so years.
The invention and use of fossil fuel was the beginning of fast and materialistic human civilization. The European Renaissance and subsequent Industrial Revolution gained pace through the invention of fossil fuel, like coal.
We know that a hydrocarbon deposit, such as petroleum, coal, or natural gas, derived from the accumulated remains of ancient plants and animals and used as fuel. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases generated by burning fossil fuels are considered to be one of the principal causes of global warming.
Continuous, reckless and the increasing use of those cheap and dirty fossil fuels has made our green planet warmer, created hazardous situation in the climate and atmosphere, made severe environmental pollution, increased unusual and unexpected severe natural calamities all over the world. Human being’s lust for wealth, reckless use of fossil fuel, endless industrialization, rapid urbanization, deforestation gradually reducing this planet to an unfavorable place for the living creatures. Moreover, as the volume of the use of fossil fuel is increasing day by day-the reserve would be exhausted very soon. In that reality, invention and use of alternative fuel is an inescapable demand for upholding the existence of human civilization in this planet.
Many scientific research indicates that the expected long term effects of current global warming are raising sea levels, flooding, melting of polar ice caps and glaciers, fluctuation in temperature and precipitation, more frequent and stronger El Ninos and La Ninas, drought, heat waves, and forest fires which are also evident now a days. If this trend continues, it is expected that the temperature on the earth would increase by about 3 to 5 degree Centigrade (5.4 to 9 degree Fahrenheit) by the year 2100 and the rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100. As a further effect of global warming, diseases like malaria are returning into areas where they have been extinguished earlier.
This has also been estimated that out of total annual green house gas emission 21% comes from power station, 21% comes from transportation, 13% comes from agricultural byproducts, 10% comes from land use and biomass burning, 11% comes from residential, commercial and 24% comes from other sources.
In the past, there was more or less a direct relation between the energy consumption (mainly fossil fuels) and the welfare of a country. This has so far prevented many countries from taking serious actions to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels. As of today however, this relation is not true any more. Germany is a good example of a country where the CO2 emissions have been decreasing for several years despite economic growth.
A renewable resource is replaced naturally and can be used again. Examples are: oxygen, fresh water, solar energy etc. Renewable resources may also include goods and commodities such as wood, paper, biomass and leather. Solar energy, wind power, various food grains, oil seeds, animal west, plants can also be used to produce fuel through some easy process. For example, gas can be produced from Rice hulls which are used to make biogas, solar energy can be used to charge batteries, can be collected with solar cells to make electricity, or can be used passively to heat a building; soybean oil and alcohol are useful to make biodiesel and many more other sources.
According to the report of International Energy Agency (IEA) renewables like solar and wind represent the fastest-growing source of energy power generation and will make up a quarter of the global power mix by 2018. The IEA also said that in 2016 renewable energy will overtake natural gas as a power source and will be twice that of nuclear, and second only to coal as a source of power. Non-hydro renewable power, mainly wind and solar photovoltaics, is projected to grow from 4 per cent of all power generation in 2011 to 8pc in 2018.
The recent Climate Conference in Paris has made world leaders and policy makers united to reach an agreement. Many observers and world leaders termed this agreement as a historical, universal and ambitious agreement that sends a clear message to government, business and investors everywhere. The measures in the agreement included:
- To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century.
- To keep global temperature increase “well below” 2C (3.6F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C.
- To review progress every five years.
- $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future.
In the previous environmental summit called the Kyoto Conference, held in 1997 many countries agreed to reduce their CO2 output until the year 2012, on average to 5% below their respective emission of the year 1990. But the USA- as the largest CO2 producer world wide- and most developing countries refused to sign this agreement.
In the Kyoto Conference the rich and big developing countries could not feel the consequences of climate change. But during the last couple of years they have been victimized severely by natural calamities, like flash flood, tornedo, tsunami, wild fire, heat wave, cold weave etc. because of carbon emission and subsequent global warming. Therefore, in order to control more severe disaster in the coming days those countries have been bound to reach an agreement in the Paris Climate Conference in order to reduce carbon emission.
In order to rescue the human civilization from extinction as well as to keep this green planet favorable for the living creatures until any other favorable planet is discovered- it is unavoidable to keep the emission of carbon and other Green-house gases at a tolerable level. And for the implementation of this scenario we should not let the fossil fuel to go long as the largest source of energy.
© Copyright: Reserved by the writer (Noore Alam Siddiqui)
