Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
So, unfortunately, there may be some truth in the claim of the British
Airways' Face-to-Face campaign, launched to sustain business traffic dur-
ing the recession, that “tangible, human connections are a crucial driver
of business growth”.
Supply and sustainability: what
we use and how we use it
Now we know what factors are contributing to the world's spiralling ener-
gy demand, it's worth examining what energy we currently use, in order to
assess the problems in supplying it sustainably. Because this topic's main
focus is on
sustainable
supply, the chart below shows how the various sec-
tors rate in terms of CO
2
emissions.
Main sectors responsible for energy-related CO
2
emissions in
2007 (in percentage of total energy-related emissions)
Electricity generation
41%
Transport 22.9%
Industry 16.5%
Residential 6.5%
Other energy sectors (i.e. oil refining) 4.9%
Services 3%
Agriculture 1.5%
Source: International Energy Agency,
World Energy Outlook 2009
Coal's comeback: the power problem
Let's start with coal. As the table above shows, generating electric power
creates over forty percent of all energy-related emissions of CO
2
. The main
reason is that over forty percent of all electricity is produced by burning
coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels. And, on present trends, coal's share of
global electricity generation is likely to continue to creep up. It is the one
fossil fuel that the two most populous countries - China and India - have
in abundance. And they intend to make the most of it. The IEA forecasts
that, between 2007 and 2030, coal-fired generation will grow by 2.5 times
in China and by 3.5 times in India. The results, for all of us, could be dire.
