Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Possible Routes Towards Carbon-Free
Vehicles
It is widely documented that the continuously increasing energy consumption is
linked to population and economic growth. Industry, domestic and transportation
sectors augment their share of primary energy use, with a consequent higher
standard of living. The annual report of International Energy Agency (IEA), World
Energy Outlook 2008, gives some forecasts about the future primary energy
demands based on a Reference Scenario, which considers the effects of govern-
ment measures adopted up to mid-2008 [ 1 ]. Table 1.1 , which summarizes these
previsions by fuel starting from 2006 until 2030, evidences that world energy
demands in the Reference Scenario should rise of about 45% in the period con-
sidered (with an average of 1.6% per year), with fossil sources (coal, oil and
natural gas) accounting of most overall increase ([80%). About half of the
projected increase is attributed to the emerging giants in the global economy
(China and India), which have to be considered as energy wasting countries due to
their enormous population, huge market size and lasting economic growth.
The relation between energy demand, population increase and continuous
amelioration of economic conditions is strictly connected to some crucial issues
regarding the human impact on the environment and the reserves of primary
energy resources. These questions are the basis of the worldwide diffused
awareness that concomitant growth of human population, economic prosperity and
energy demand, may not be sustainable far into the future without any modifica-
tion of the present model of economic and social development.
The main environmental concern is related to the increasing concentration of
carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere (with consequent enhanced greenhouse
effect), which is attributed to the combustion of carbon-containing fossil fuels and
considered responsible of the global climate change observed in recent years.
According to forecasts of World Energy Outlook 2008 (Table 1.2 ), the world
energy-related carbon dioxide emissions was about 28 billion tons in 2006, and
should increase up to about 42 billion tons in 2030 in the Reference Scenario,
considering both OECD and non-OECD countries. The percentage of these
emissions due to the transportation sector was about 18% in 2006, and represents a
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