Energy and Changes in the Environment - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 56

stationary fuel cells, alone or in tandem, are being used for backup power
and as a source of distributed generation supplying electricity to the utility
grid. The expanded use of hydrogen as an energy source should help to
address concerns over energy security, climate change and air quality.
A Department of Energy study compared alternative paths for
future U.S. energy use: business-as-usual and energy-efficient. Both
projections suggested a substantial rise in U.S. production CO 2 and the
consumption of fossil fuels over the next few decades. The study predicted
an increase in energy between 1985 and 2010 of about 30%. The projected
oil and gas increase remained relatively constant over this period, but coal
consumption increased greatly by more than 100%. CO 2 emissions rose
from 1.25 billion metric tons per year to about 1.73 billion metric tons in
2010. This is a 38% increase in CO 2 .
The major cause for the 38% increase in CO 2 was a more than
doubling of the coal use in electric utilities and a near doubling of coal use
in industrial use. The energy efficiency path still increased CO 2 production
to 1.5 billion metric tons per year. The high-efficiency case does use less
coal. Other energy studies predict a decline in energy-growth rates and a
decline instead of an increase in CO 2 emissions.
One DOE forecast sees U.S. energy production with a free economic
viability and strong technological growth. Other forecasts predict an
energy future tied to broad societal goals of economic efficiency and
equity with policy changes used to reach objectives. Market interventions
that could reduce the energy supply include petroleum product taxes, oil
import fees and carbon taxes for greenhouse problems.
CARBON MARKETS
Europe's carbon market is growing quickly after the introduction of
tradable annual allowances for greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto
treaty that went into effect in 2005. In this new market-based emission-
trading system, light polluters can sell some of their surplus allowances
to heavier polluters. This can result in a reduction of emissions at a lower
cost than if each installation had been obliged to meet an individual target
but the allowances to produce one kilowatt-hour of coal-fired power can
cost more than the coal itself.
The shift in the U.S. economy from energy-intensive activities such as
steel manufacturing to information-intensive activities such as computer