Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
other key greenhouse gases, methane emissions accounted for approxi-
mately 14% of total GHG emissions and nitrous oxide emissions accounted
for approximately 8% of the total. he remaining three luorinated gases
represent a very small proportion of GHG emissions.
he main hurdle stymieing international eforts to reduce CO
2
emissions
appears to be the diiculty, that all countries are having, breaking free from
a dependence on fossil fuel energy. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
pointed out in his 2008 World Environment Day Message:
Addiction is a terrible thing. It consumes and controls us, makes us deny impor-
tant truths and blinds us to the consequences of our actions. Our world is in the
grip of a dangerous carbon habit. . . . he environmental, economic and political
implications of global warming are profound. Ecosystems—from mountain to
ocean, from the poles to the tropics—are undergoing rapid change. Low-lying
cities face inundation, fertile lands are turning to desert, and weather patterns
are becoming ever more unpredictable.
10
As Figure 1.1 indicates, CO
2
emissions from fossil fuel
combustion
accounted for approximately 57% of all GHG emissions. Clearly, if human-
ity is to avoid the worst efects of global warming alluded to by the Stern
Review and the IPCC 4th Assessment Report, progress in terms of reduc-
ing emissions related to fossil fuel combustion is essential. Unfortunately,
data points to increasing—not decreasing—trends in fossil fuel-related
CO
2
emissions. As Figure 1.2 indicates, total combustion-related
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1971
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2009
TOTAL
OECD
Non-OECD
Fuel bunkers
Figure 1.2
. Global CO
2
Emission Trends
Source
: IEA, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion (2011).
