Fossil Fuel Economy
• Current economic system is based on the
extensive use of fossil fuels in production
• 87% of world energy production
– Petroleum : 37%
– Coal
: 27%
– Natural Gas : 23%
• Fossil fuels are non-renewable and carbonintensive
• Increasing carbon emissions accelerate climate
change
World Energy Production
OIL
OIL
NATURAL
NATURALGAS
GAS
COAL
COAL
NUCLEAR
ENERGY
RENEWABLE
ENERGY
Fossil fuels
• Non-renewable and non-recyclable resources.
• Rival goods: once used, they are gone forever.
• Current populations and economic systems
depend for survival on the use of fossil fuels.
• Growing accumulation of waste products from
fossil fuel use impose risks
• The most accessible and highest-quality
known reserves of fossil fuels extracted first
– net energy gains are highest.
– the lowest-entropy
– Thus, in time, not only a quantitative decrease but
also a qualitative decline in stocks expected
• Used fuel does not disappear; it must return
to the ecosystem as waste
– Acid rain, global warming, carbon monoxide
Acid Rain
– Arises when pollutants such
as SO2 and NOx are released
into the atmosphere,
primarily from power plants,
metal smelters, factories, and
motorized vehicles.
• Ozone is the only chemical in the
atmosphere which absorbs certain
frequencies of intense ultraviolet
(UV) radiation that are damaging to
plants and animals.
• Primary cause of is the presence of
chlorine-containing source gases
(CFCs)
Global Warming
Increasing CO2 emissions
GLOBAL
WARMING
2014 officially the hottest year on record
England saw its hottest year in three and a half centuries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=37&v=5
5pRU0xxcXA
Effects of Global Warming
• Effects on weather
– Drought
– Tropical cyclone
• Glacier retreat
• Rising sea levels
MIT’s Greenhouse Gamble Wheels
Policy vs No-policy Scenarios
Policies Against Global Warming
International response needed
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(1994)
– objective of the treaty is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in
the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system
– industrialized countries, with the intention of stabilizing their
emissions of greenhouse gases at 1990 levels by the year 2000
– no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual
countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms
Kyoto Protocol
• 3rd conference of the UNFCCC (1997)
• A legally binding international agreement, all participating
nations commit themselves to tackling the issue of global
warming and greenhouse gas emissions.
• The target agreed upon was an average reduction of 5.2%
from 1990 levels by the year 2012.
• National limitations range from 8% reductions for the
European Union and others, to 7% for the US, 6% for Japan,
0% for Russia, and permitted increases of 8% for Australia and
10% for Iceland.
Kyoto Protocol
• the largest share of historical and current global
emissions of greenhouse gases originated in
developed countries;
• per capita emissions in developing countries are still
relatively low;
• the share of global emissions originating in
developing countries will grow to meet social and
development needs.
Kyoto Protocol
Flexible mechanisms
• Emissions Trading: allows parties to the Kyoto
protocol to buy greenhouse gas emission permits
from other countries to help meet their domestic
emission reduction targets.
• Clean Development Mechanism: investments in
projects in Non-Annex I countries that would achieve
a net saving in GHG emissions.
• Joint Implementation: investments in projects in
developing countries that would achieve a net saving
in GHG emissions.
Participation in the Kyoto Protocol
(Period 1: 2008-12)