Annalee Yassi, Tord Kjellström, Theo de Kok, and Tee L. Guidotti
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195135589
- eISBN:
- 9780199864102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195135589.003.0009
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter focuses on health and energy use. Topics discussed include human energy needs, biomass fuels, fossil fuels, hydropower, nuclear power, alternative energy sources, comparing risks, and ...
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This chapter focuses on health and energy use. Topics discussed include human energy needs, biomass fuels, fossil fuels, hydropower, nuclear power, alternative energy sources, comparing risks, and priorities for action.Less
This chapter focuses on health and energy use. Topics discussed include human energy needs, biomass fuels, fossil fuels, hydropower, nuclear power, alternative energy sources, comparing risks, and priorities for action.
George (Rock) Pring, Alexandra Suzann Haas, and Benton Tyler Drinkwine
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199532698
- eISBN:
- 9780191701054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532698.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
The TANSTAAFL principle— ‘There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch’—controls everything on our energy menu. All forms of energy have their negative impacts on sustainable development ...
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The TANSTAAFL principle— ‘There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch’—controls everything on our energy menu. All forms of energy have their negative impacts on sustainable development values—including impacts on the environment and human health, as well as those affecting human rights, empowerment of women, energy security, and the economy. Many ‘free lunches’ are being and will be proposed. Most will be, in the words of one of our foremost climate change experts, ‘planetary methadone for our planetary heroin addiction’ to energy. The key is always to analyse each energy source for its full life-cycle impacts. Fossil fuels have unacceptably more clear, more numerous, more severe, and more permanent risks for our world than most of the alternatives. Viewed through the lens of costs and benefits, getting ‘beyond the carbon economy’ is no longer just an environmentalist issue. It is an environmental and survival necessity. This chapter looks at a number of alternative energy sources such as nuclear power, biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy, solar energy, wind energy, and hydrogen and fuel cells.Less
The TANSTAAFL principle— ‘There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch’—controls everything on our energy menu. All forms of energy have their negative impacts on sustainable development values—including impacts on the environment and human health, as well as those affecting human rights, empowerment of women, energy security, and the economy. Many ‘free lunches’ are being and will be proposed. Most will be, in the words of one of our foremost climate change experts, ‘planetary methadone for our planetary heroin addiction’ to energy. The key is always to analyse each energy source for its full life-cycle impacts. Fossil fuels have unacceptably more clear, more numerous, more severe, and more permanent risks for our world than most of the alternatives. Viewed through the lens of costs and benefits, getting ‘beyond the carbon economy’ is no longer just an environmentalist issue. It is an environmental and survival necessity. This chapter looks at a number of alternative energy sources such as nuclear power, biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy, solar energy, wind energy, and hydrogen and fuel cells.
Irina Krasnova
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199532698
- eISBN:
- 9780191701054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532698.003.0022
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This chapter focuses on the fuel and energy sectors in Russia with emphasis on energy policy and legislation. It examines the traditional hydrocarbons, hydropower, nuclear energy, and alternative ...
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This chapter focuses on the fuel and energy sectors in Russia with emphasis on energy policy and legislation. It examines the traditional hydrocarbons, hydropower, nuclear energy, and alternative energy sources. It considers the impact of such international events as the 2006 St Petersburg meeting of the G8 and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and such national concerns as energy security. It also reviews legislative and institutional measures that define energy preferences. Such topics include tax regulation, fees and charges, benefits, regulation of ownership and privatisation of reserves and energy utilities, permitting and licensing of energy activities, and environmental restrictions.Less
This chapter focuses on the fuel and energy sectors in Russia with emphasis on energy policy and legislation. It examines the traditional hydrocarbons, hydropower, nuclear energy, and alternative energy sources. It considers the impact of such international events as the 2006 St Petersburg meeting of the G8 and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and such national concerns as energy security. It also reviews legislative and institutional measures that define energy preferences. Such topics include tax regulation, fees and charges, benefits, regulation of ownership and privatisation of reserves and energy utilities, permitting and licensing of energy activities, and environmental restrictions.
James M. Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300149852
- eISBN:
- 9780300149869
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300149852.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Everyone wants energy that is clean, cheap, and secure, goals which often conflict: traditional fossil fuels tend to be cheaper than alternative fuels, but they are hardly clean or (in the case of ...
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Everyone wants energy that is clean, cheap, and secure, goals which often conflict: traditional fossil fuels tend to be cheaper than alternative fuels, but they are hardly clean or (in the case of oil) secure. This book provides an explanation of the issues as well as sensible proposals for a truly sustainable energy policy. The author, an economist, points out that current energy policies are fatally flawed and that government policies should focus on “getting the prices right” so that the prices of fossil fuels reflect their true costs to society—including greenhouse gas and security costs. By using carbon and security taxes, alternative energy forms will be able to compete on a more even playing field against fossil fuels, which will unleash advances in alternative energy and conservation technologies, enabling the marketplace and consumers to find the right balance among energy sources that are cheap, clean, and secure.Less
Everyone wants energy that is clean, cheap, and secure, goals which often conflict: traditional fossil fuels tend to be cheaper than alternative fuels, but they are hardly clean or (in the case of oil) secure. This book provides an explanation of the issues as well as sensible proposals for a truly sustainable energy policy. The author, an economist, points out that current energy policies are fatally flawed and that government policies should focus on “getting the prices right” so that the prices of fossil fuels reflect their true costs to society—including greenhouse gas and security costs. By using carbon and security taxes, alternative energy forms will be able to compete on a more even playing field against fossil fuels, which will unleash advances in alternative energy and conservation technologies, enabling the marketplace and consumers to find the right balance among energy sources that are cheap, clean, and secure.
José Juan González
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199532698
- eISBN:
- 9780191701054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532698.003.0019
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This chapter analyses Mexico's energy sector from the following perspectives: the importance that the oil industry has had in the Mexican economy since it was nationalised in 1938, taking into ...
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This chapter analyses Mexico's energy sector from the following perspectives: the importance that the oil industry has had in the Mexican economy since it was nationalised in 1938, taking into account the role of this governmental monopoly as the main source of public income and its influence on social, economic, and technological development; the role of legislation in promoting or preventing the use of alternative energy sources to reduce the dependence on such industry and to deal with environmental degradation; and the role of the Clean Development Mechanism in promoting renewable energy. The chapter includes a revision of the compatibility between the objectives established by Mexican Energy Plans and Programs and the constitutional and legal provisions regarding promotion of renewable energy sources.Less
This chapter analyses Mexico's energy sector from the following perspectives: the importance that the oil industry has had in the Mexican economy since it was nationalised in 1938, taking into account the role of this governmental monopoly as the main source of public income and its influence on social, economic, and technological development; the role of legislation in promoting or preventing the use of alternative energy sources to reduce the dependence on such industry and to deal with environmental degradation; and the role of the Clean Development Mechanism in promoting renewable energy. The chapter includes a revision of the compatibility between the objectives established by Mexican Energy Plans and Programs and the constitutional and legal provisions regarding promotion of renewable energy sources.
Mari Luomi
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199387526
- eISBN:
- 9780190214142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199387526.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
This chapter examines Abu Dhabi’s responses to climate change and environmental sustainability through case studies of major alternative energy and sustainability initiatives, including the Masdar ...
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This chapter examines Abu Dhabi’s responses to climate change and environmental sustainability through case studies of major alternative energy and sustainability initiatives, including the Masdar initiative and Abu Dhabi’s nuclear energy programme. It also includes a detailed examination of Abu Dhabi’s climate change-related resource scarcities and vulnerabilities. Together with chapter 4, this chapter explores how the multiple natural resource-related pressures have affected Abu Dhabi, and how the government is responding to them. The chapter examines the drivers and motives of change and divergence in Abu Dhabi’s responses to the challenges of energy insecurity, climate change and environmental unsustainability.Less
This chapter examines Abu Dhabi’s responses to climate change and environmental sustainability through case studies of major alternative energy and sustainability initiatives, including the Masdar initiative and Abu Dhabi’s nuclear energy programme. It also includes a detailed examination of Abu Dhabi’s climate change-related resource scarcities and vulnerabilities. Together with chapter 4, this chapter explores how the multiple natural resource-related pressures have affected Abu Dhabi, and how the government is responding to them. The chapter examines the drivers and motives of change and divergence in Abu Dhabi’s responses to the challenges of energy insecurity, climate change and environmental unsustainability.
Mari Luomi
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199387526
- eISBN:
- 9780190214142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199387526.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
This chapter examines Qatar’s responses to climate change and environmental sustainability through case studies of major alternative energy and sustainability initiatives, including those under the ...
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This chapter examines Qatar’s responses to climate change and environmental sustainability through case studies of major alternative energy and sustainability initiatives, including those under the umbrella of the Qatar Foundation, and the Qatar National Food Security Programme. It also includes a detailed examination of Qatar’s climate change-related resource scarcities and vulnerabilities. Together with Chapter 6, this chapter explores how the multiple natural resource-related pressures have affected Qatar, and how the government is responding to them. The chapter examines the drivers and motives of change and divergence in Qatar’s responses to the challenges of energy insecurity, climate change and environmental unsustainability.Less
This chapter examines Qatar’s responses to climate change and environmental sustainability through case studies of major alternative energy and sustainability initiatives, including those under the umbrella of the Qatar Foundation, and the Qatar National Food Security Programme. It also includes a detailed examination of Qatar’s climate change-related resource scarcities and vulnerabilities. Together with Chapter 6, this chapter explores how the multiple natural resource-related pressures have affected Qatar, and how the government is responding to them. The chapter examines the drivers and motives of change and divergence in Qatar’s responses to the challenges of energy insecurity, climate change and environmental unsustainability.
James M. Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300149852
- eISBN:
- 9780300149869
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300149852.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter outlines the best energy policy for balancing the often-competing goals of cheap, clean, and secure energy, and which would use the price system to fundamentally alter consumer behavior, ...
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This chapter outlines the best energy policy for balancing the often-competing goals of cheap, clean, and secure energy, and which would use the price system to fundamentally alter consumer behavior, business behavior, and the incentives to develop alternative-energy technologies. With the pressing problems of climate change and dirty air and water, clean energy is essential to the continued health and prosperity of all nations. Large energy price increases, such as could occur under a cap-and-trade system, basically punish consumers for their past decisions and achieve only small reductions in CO2 emissions. Under any energy-tax legislation adopted, the tax revenues should be earmarked for offsetting reductions in income and payroll taxes and increases in the earned income tax credit. This approach has an important advantage over cap-and-trade proposals because it allows for greater benefits to the public—through relief from income and other taxes—at the expense of carbon-emitting industries.Less
This chapter outlines the best energy policy for balancing the often-competing goals of cheap, clean, and secure energy, and which would use the price system to fundamentally alter consumer behavior, business behavior, and the incentives to develop alternative-energy technologies. With the pressing problems of climate change and dirty air and water, clean energy is essential to the continued health and prosperity of all nations. Large energy price increases, such as could occur under a cap-and-trade system, basically punish consumers for their past decisions and achieve only small reductions in CO2 emissions. Under any energy-tax legislation adopted, the tax revenues should be earmarked for offsetting reductions in income and payroll taxes and increases in the earned income tax credit. This approach has an important advantage over cap-and-trade proposals because it allows for greater benefits to the public—through relief from income and other taxes—at the expense of carbon-emitting industries.
Ester van der Voet and Thomas E. Graedel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262013581
- eISBN:
- 9780262258845
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262013581.003.0025
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
This chapter examines the potential constraints for supplying the desired quantity of land, water, energy, and mineral resources. It focuses on the constraints resulting from the linkage of ...
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This chapter examines the potential constraints for supplying the desired quantity of land, water, energy, and mineral resources. It focuses on the constraints resulting from the linkage of resources. Examples of linkage constraints are urbanization of populations, declining supply of resources, feasibility of alternative energy pathways, and impairment of resource supply due to environmental degradation. All of these resource linkages can severely constrain potential solutions for sustainable development.Less
This chapter examines the potential constraints for supplying the desired quantity of land, water, energy, and mineral resources. It focuses on the constraints resulting from the linkage of resources. Examples of linkage constraints are urbanization of populations, declining supply of resources, feasibility of alternative energy pathways, and impairment of resource supply due to environmental degradation. All of these resource linkages can severely constrain potential solutions for sustainable development.
Chika Ezeanya and Abel Kennedy
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198802242
- eISBN:
- 9780191840586
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198802242.003.0023
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The disappearance of Rwanda’s forests and attendant change in climatic conditions prompted the government to explore clean energy alternatives such as biogas. Unlike at any other time in Rwanda’s ...
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The disappearance of Rwanda’s forests and attendant change in climatic conditions prompted the government to explore clean energy alternatives such as biogas. Unlike at any other time in Rwanda’s history, more and more Rwandans in rural areas are becoming owners of cattle because of the Government of Rwanda’s agricultural direct assistance and poverty reduction programme known as Girinka. This chapter focuses on the various strategies employed by the government of Rwanda in achieving increased biogas use among the rural poor Girinka beneficiaries who use cow dung for their domestic biogas plants. Conditions necessary for successful implementation of clean energy pro-poor reforms in rural communities are explored.Less
The disappearance of Rwanda’s forests and attendant change in climatic conditions prompted the government to explore clean energy alternatives such as biogas. Unlike at any other time in Rwanda’s history, more and more Rwandans in rural areas are becoming owners of cattle because of the Government of Rwanda’s agricultural direct assistance and poverty reduction programme known as Girinka. This chapter focuses on the various strategies employed by the government of Rwanda in achieving increased biogas use among the rural poor Girinka beneficiaries who use cow dung for their domestic biogas plants. Conditions necessary for successful implementation of clean energy pro-poor reforms in rural communities are explored.
Anders Åslund and Simeon Djankov
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190499204
- eISBN:
- 9780190499235
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190499204.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
Europe’s security of energy supplies is a major concern. Much of Europe’s energy comes from Russia. Some European countries—such as Finland, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Slovakia—depend nearly 100 percent ...
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Europe’s security of energy supplies is a major concern. Much of Europe’s energy comes from Russia. Some European countries—such as Finland, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Slovakia—depend nearly 100 percent on Russian gas supplies. Another EU aim is to enhance efficiency through well-functioning markets. Other energy policy objectives are energy saving, control of pollution, and the development of new sources of energy. Europe can do all this by implementing its 2009 Third Energy Package and its 2015 Energy Union project. The European Commission is to be commended for the firm stand it has taken against the gas pipeline project Nord Stream2, which contradicts all the aims of the energy union. Since the 1980s, Europe has been the world leader in energy savings and pollution control through high energy taxes and regulation. Over time, Europe needs to abandon its tolerance of state-owned energy companies and favor privatization.Less
Europe’s security of energy supplies is a major concern. Much of Europe’s energy comes from Russia. Some European countries—such as Finland, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Slovakia—depend nearly 100 percent on Russian gas supplies. Another EU aim is to enhance efficiency through well-functioning markets. Other energy policy objectives are energy saving, control of pollution, and the development of new sources of energy. Europe can do all this by implementing its 2009 Third Energy Package and its 2015 Energy Union project. The European Commission is to be commended for the firm stand it has taken against the gas pipeline project Nord Stream2, which contradicts all the aims of the energy union. Since the 1980s, Europe has been the world leader in energy savings and pollution control through high energy taxes and regulation. Over time, Europe needs to abandon its tolerance of state-owned energy companies and favor privatization.
Kabiru K Salami and Adigun A B Agbaje
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198819837
- eISBN:
- 9780191860096
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198819837.003.0015
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
Energy struggles are a global phenomenon. In spite of this, its dimension in Africa is more pronounced for various reasons. This chapter presents the dimension of struggles along with relative ...
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Energy struggles are a global phenomenon. In spite of this, its dimension in Africa is more pronounced for various reasons. This chapter presents the dimension of struggles along with relative responses that abound in Africa. By bringing the memories of African countries through case studies and review of grey literature from different sources on African nations, it shows that from West Africa to East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa, energy supply is never adequate or equitably distributed. The inadequacy is rounded off by the act of either meter-locking by the individual users or business investors; cable and or transformer resource theft; vandalization of transformer; or poor maintenance culture in most African communities. Community involvement in the monitoring of energy resources is recommended, along with adoption of alternative energy sources relative to African power and energy consumption.Less
Energy struggles are a global phenomenon. In spite of this, its dimension in Africa is more pronounced for various reasons. This chapter presents the dimension of struggles along with relative responses that abound in Africa. By bringing the memories of African countries through case studies and review of grey literature from different sources on African nations, it shows that from West Africa to East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa, energy supply is never adequate or equitably distributed. The inadequacy is rounded off by the act of either meter-locking by the individual users or business investors; cable and or transformer resource theft; vandalization of transformer; or poor maintenance culture in most African communities. Community involvement in the monitoring of energy resources is recommended, along with adoption of alternative energy sources relative to African power and energy consumption.
Shyam Saran
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198092346
- eISBN:
- 9780199082834
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198092346.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia
This chapter contextualizes the challenge of climate change, mitigation, and adaptation in the perennial cultural and intellectual traditions of South Asia, according to which human existence is seen ...
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This chapter contextualizes the challenge of climate change, mitigation, and adaptation in the perennial cultural and intellectual traditions of South Asia, according to which human existence is seen as an integral part of nature in its cycle of birth, growth, decay, and regeneration. It thus locates the idea of sustainability in the existential act of nurturing rather than depleting beyond its tolerable limits, the integrated life support systems of earth, water, and air. The chapter points out that India can set an example for the rest of the world for sustainable development by investing in leapfrog technologies using renewable and biofuels, as it develops its energy, transport, and industrial infrastructure, and builds mass transit systems for cities, based on alternative energy sources. India is also in the process of developing a new institutional structure embodying incentives for adopting the least carbon intensive technologies.Less
This chapter contextualizes the challenge of climate change, mitigation, and adaptation in the perennial cultural and intellectual traditions of South Asia, according to which human existence is seen as an integral part of nature in its cycle of birth, growth, decay, and regeneration. It thus locates the idea of sustainability in the existential act of nurturing rather than depleting beyond its tolerable limits, the integrated life support systems of earth, water, and air. The chapter points out that India can set an example for the rest of the world for sustainable development by investing in leapfrog technologies using renewable and biofuels, as it develops its energy, transport, and industrial infrastructure, and builds mass transit systems for cities, based on alternative energy sources. India is also in the process of developing a new institutional structure embodying incentives for adopting the least carbon intensive technologies.
Lillian Hoddeson and Peter Garrett
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780262037532
- eISBN:
- 9780262345033
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262037532.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This is the first full-length biography of the prolific inventor Stanford R. Ovshinsky (1922-2012). Ovshinsky’s discoveries led to the creation of many important information and energy technologies, ...
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This is the first full-length biography of the prolific inventor Stanford R. Ovshinsky (1922-2012). Ovshinsky’s discoveries led to the creation of many important information and energy technologies, from phase-change electronic memories and rewritable CDs and DVDs to nickel metal hydride batteries, thin-film solar panels, and flat panel displays. In the process, his work helped open a new scientific research area centered on amorphous and disordered materials. A brilliant, self-educated pioneer of materials science, Ovshinsky began his career as a machinist and toolmaker before becoming an independent inventor and later the charismatic director of his own substantial research and development laboratory, Energy Conversion Devices (ECD). Guided by the social democratic values of his youth, he worked for nearly half a century with his partner and second wife Iris, eventually with hundreds of collaborators, to address important social problems like climate change. At the same time, their progressive values shaped the culture of the ECD community as a model egalitarian organization. Ovshinsky’s important contributions include his alternative energy technologies, with which he aimed to reduce and eventually eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. Increasingly important are the semiconductor devices based on his discovery of the Ovshinsky switching effect, which are becoming the basis of new information technologies.Less
This is the first full-length biography of the prolific inventor Stanford R. Ovshinsky (1922-2012). Ovshinsky’s discoveries led to the creation of many important information and energy technologies, from phase-change electronic memories and rewritable CDs and DVDs to nickel metal hydride batteries, thin-film solar panels, and flat panel displays. In the process, his work helped open a new scientific research area centered on amorphous and disordered materials. A brilliant, self-educated pioneer of materials science, Ovshinsky began his career as a machinist and toolmaker before becoming an independent inventor and later the charismatic director of his own substantial research and development laboratory, Energy Conversion Devices (ECD). Guided by the social democratic values of his youth, he worked for nearly half a century with his partner and second wife Iris, eventually with hundreds of collaborators, to address important social problems like climate change. At the same time, their progressive values shaped the culture of the ECD community as a model egalitarian organization. Ovshinsky’s important contributions include his alternative energy technologies, with which he aimed to reduce and eventually eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. Increasingly important are the semiconductor devices based on his discovery of the Ovshinsky switching effect, which are becoming the basis of new information technologies.
Thomas C. Schelling
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231143653
- eISBN:
- 9780231527866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231143653.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter discusses the following aspects of global warming: the uncertainties, the certainties, the urgencies, and finally, what uncertainties imply about waiting for their resolution before ...
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This chapter discusses the following aspects of global warming: the uncertainties, the certainties, the urgencies, and finally, what uncertainties imply about waiting for their resolution before acting. Among the many uncertainties are question such as: How much carbon dioxide may join the atmosphere if nothing is done about it? How much average warming globally is to be expected from some specified increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide and other “green house” gases? What will the world be like in fifty, seventy-five, or a hundred years when climate change may become acute? Amidst these uncertainties is the undeniable fact that the Earth's temperature is rising. What is most urgently needed is research and development, especially multi-government-sponsored R&D. Research should focus on alternatives to fossil fuels; how to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from stationary plants; and how to increase Earth's albedo, its reflectance of incoming sunlight.Less
This chapter discusses the following aspects of global warming: the uncertainties, the certainties, the urgencies, and finally, what uncertainties imply about waiting for their resolution before acting. Among the many uncertainties are question such as: How much carbon dioxide may join the atmosphere if nothing is done about it? How much average warming globally is to be expected from some specified increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide and other “green house” gases? What will the world be like in fifty, seventy-five, or a hundred years when climate change may become acute? Amidst these uncertainties is the undeniable fact that the Earth's temperature is rising. What is most urgently needed is research and development, especially multi-government-sponsored R&D. Research should focus on alternatives to fossil fuels; how to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from stationary plants; and how to increase Earth's albedo, its reflectance of incoming sunlight.
