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Effects on the environment essay
Global warming reseach
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INTRODUCTION
Climate change has been one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century. Environmental Science education has now been mandatory for schools and colleges. This is because, when students rise up to practice any of the professions tomorrow, they need to think of its consequences on the environment. But, how is climate change even related to energy conservation?
Many consider efficiently using energy and hence conserving it as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Energy conservation reduces the need for energy services and can result in increased environmental quality, national security, personal finance security and higher savings.
What is energy conservation
Energy conservation are efforts made to reduce the consumption
Energy conservation is a very important part of energy planning and its management. Aim of energy conservation is not only save it for future but also avoids wasteful utilisation of energy, provides solution to energy crisis etc. basically development of nation in hand to hand with saving environment and resources.
New strategy emphasizes greater reliance on non-exhaustible and non-conventional sources of energy so as to conserve exhaustible conventional resources like coal, petroleum, natural gas etc. so as efforts are being made to increase the use of non-conventional sources..
Considering the fact that energy consumption at this rate may lead to energy crisis in future upto a very hazardous level ,energy can be conserved by individual habits, utilising latest technology, reduce the subsidy and increase the price of the energy.
For eg:- many conventional boilers could be replaced by gasifies and a gas turbine stage could be added to the steam turbines to give a combined cycle operation producing 25 to 30 per cent more power from the same amount of coal. Increasing the plant load factor (PLF) of existing thermal plants is another area which offers good scope for energy planning. It is estimated that one per cent increase in PLF yields additional 4 billion units of electricity costing rupees 2,500
According to Jason, “costs would fall if people adopt new energy-efficient technologies without a price hike in energy” (Shogren, 2004). A study done by Jaffe and his colleagues concluded that 20-25% of existing carbon emissions can be eliminated if people switched to fluorescent light bulbs, improved thermal insulation, more efficient heating and cooling systems (Jaffe, Newell, & Stavins, 2003). It all comes down to the consumers. Some of the energy efficient technologies are readily available but are still expensive. The driving force to efficient-energy technology depends on the changes of relative price. People will not want spend money on newer appliances especially if the prices are high, and if their current one still functions.
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society faces today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today, the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been the slowest” (geocraft).
For these reasons, global warming stands as one of the most daunting policy issues facing our world today. This is compounded by the debate over the very existence of climate change. While countless sources of empirical evidence testify to the very real presence of climate change the world over, considerable denial of the phenomenon still exists. The argument has been made that evidence about climate change is a gross overstatement, or in some cases, a complete fabrication. Despite the evidence to the contrary, many interest groups with considerable political clout have successfully perpetuated the argument that documented changes in the environment are a product of natural cyclical changes in climate, and are not associated with human activities. However, even the acceptance of this particular brand of reality is no grounds for the disregard of environmental consciousness. Even if one accepts the premise that recent climate change is not resultant of human activity, the rationale behind environmental conservation remains ...
However, with a scarcity of coal, more power would be generated from other sources like nuclear, solar and hydro. However, producing electricity from these sources for huge supply would be difficult.
ways. The use of electricity will reduces the usage of the earth’s resources such as gas and oil.
To fulfill the energy needs of the citizen of India while utilizing the renewable sources and hereby providing pollution free and waste free life to the citizens.
increasing the supply of renewable energy would allow us to replace carbon-intensive energy sources and significantly reduce U.S. global warming emissions… a 25 percent by 2025 national renewable electricity standard would lower power plant CO2 emissions 277 million metric tons annually by 2025—the equivalent of the annual output from 70 typical (600 MW) new coal plants (“Benefits of Renewable Energy
Energy-cities (2011) define energy efficiency as the use of less energy input while achieving or maintaining an equivalent level of economic activity. On the other hand, energy saving refers to a broader concept that also encompasses consumption reduction through decreased economic activity or behaviour change. Practically, the two are difficult to differentiate and are often used interchangeably although they are not synonymous (Kats, 2003).
The present world with its sustainable resources, environment and way of life became developed. The population growth, consuming almost all the available resources, to meet people’s needs, should be a major concern. The consumption of material and energy around the world which is about to eliminate the available supply, has increased over the last two decades, especially in the built environment. In order to access other reserves of fuel, the more energy will be needed to use.
The problems associated with climate change are mainly due to the combustion of fossil fuels. It is difficult however to stop this problem. The solutions of being more energy efficient, and improving emissions-control technology, can help lessen the environmental damage done by fossil fuel use they ultimately only alleviate the pressure of increase of pollution and affluence(Delucchi, Jacobson 31).
The world that we live into today affords us the expectation that the flip a switch will turn the lights on. As populations increase and developing nations undergo dramatic economic growth, this energy demand will only continue to grow. The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes that “the world’s energy needs could be 50% higher in 2030 than they are today” (ElBaradei). Given this projected growth, it is necessary for world leaders must take action to secure the energy supply. Meaning that world leaders need to start seriously considering an alternative to non-renewable energy sources. “In 2012, the United States generated about 4,054 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. About 68% of the electricity generated was from fossil fuel (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), with 37% attributed from coal” (U.S. Energy Information Administration). The fossil fuels that are used to supply over half of our country’s energy are in finite supply and are increasing in price to astronomical heights.
Household energy conservation is a very practical and realistic approach to conserving energy within our society. US households consume a tremendous amount of natural gas as well as electric energy. It has been calculated that the amount of energy consumed within the US increased exponentially from about 1850 to 1975. If energy continued to increase at this rate, we would be experiencing severe energy shortages in our current society. Luckily, steps towards conservation, including various energy regulations, have curbed that growth somewhat, brining the predicted 160 Qbtu/yr for the year 2000 down to around 93.8 Qbtu/yr by the year 1996. However, household energy usage is still a major issue as households consume about 38% of the total consumed energy and contribute greatly to natural gas consumption and issues such as global warming. Therefore, it is important that people understand how we use energy in the household and what steps can be taken to conserve that energy.
Global warming has become on of the most controversial issues in the media today. While most of the Western world countries have generally accepted the premise that man's chemical emissions in the atmosphere can and are affected by the world’s climate patterns, in the United States, the issue has become so politicized with many republicans challenging the science behind the theory. Global warming is a greenhouse effect whereby gases are trapped on the earth’s surface causing it to heat up (Maslin 14). It is based on the worldwide temperature records that have been maintained by human beings through their activities since the 1880,s. In addition, global warming is not only caused by human activities only but also through climate changes in solar radiance. The problem is that, humans continue to contribute to the global warming phenomenon. All citizens should work in reducing human activities that cause global warming and also support the development of nuclear power. Scientists deem that, global warming is mainly caused by human activities which accelerate the natural process by creating greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Human activities have become a great contribution to the greenhouse effect and this means that climate changes are inevitable. They further argue that, if these activities continue and are not reduced, it will lead to more trapping of energy radiated from the earth and this will likely lead to extreme weather and global warming. Global warming should be at reduced levels or else, it will be catastrophic.
One distinctive element in world stories is that economics was developed within the context of an engineering technology, therefore industrial world require better economic technique and innovation for getting proper benefit from their goods. For this purpose the equipments by which the goods are manufacture are likely to be cent percent efficient or approaches to it. regardless of their nature and purpose.Moreover the globe facing the energy decline and energy along with their resourses is becoming rare and rare in every tick of the clock. Today!.. the burning question is that how the man can save the natural resourses whether it is power,water or even gas. The report deals with the technology by which industrial sector can reduce their energy consumption also their supplier reduce the distribution cost.
March 17, 2014. Hinrichs, Roger ; Kleinbach, Merlin. Energy, Its Use and the Environment. 2013. The. Print.