Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
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Biofuels
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Electric cars using renewable electricity
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Transmissions based on renewable hydrogen
Although the natural gas vehicles currently being marketed emit slightly lower
levels of carbon dioxide than before, they really do not offer an alternative for
protecting the climate worldwide. Biofuels may be able to replace oil relatively
easily and are sometimes added to conventional fuels. However, the problem is that
not enough biomass is available to provide an adequate supply. Even if all the
farmland in places like Germany and Britain were used to plant the raw materials
needed for biofuels, this would not come close to covering the current fuel needs
of motor vehicles in those countries. On closer inspection, even renewable hydrogen
poses some problems. (Biofuels and hydrogen will be covered in detail in Chapters
12 and 13 , respectively.)
Until now the main obstacle to electric cars has been limited battery life. Long
charging times and the short distances that can be driven on a single charge are
preventing the widespread use of these cars. Considerable progress is currently
being made in battery development, which could eventually make electric cars a
viable option. However, these cars cannot offer a real alternative for saving the
climate unless the electricity used to charge the batteries is also sourced from renew-
able power plants.
3.3 Industry and Co - Everyone Else is to Blame
It's widely believed that industry and the energy companies are mostly to blame for
greenhouse gas emissions and so private individuals can't do much about the
problem. But looking at the situation more closely, one sees that they are only
complying with what the customers want. Therefore, in the fi nal analysis it is the
consumers who are responsible for the emissions because of the products they are
demanding.
If all electricity customers were to change to suppliers or tariffs that only offer
electricity from renewable energies, the power supply would very quickly be free
of carbon dioxide. The only problem the energy suppliers would then have is being
able to build enough renewable power plants as quickly as possible to accommodate
all the sudden demand.
Due to their choice of products, consumers are failing to put pressure on the right
places for a sustainable type of economy. The production of any type of product
- whether a food item or consumer goods - requires energy and therefore causes
carbon dioxide emissions. The higher one's personal consumption, the higher the
use of energy and the higher the carbon dioxide emissions. Yet even those who
swear off consumption completely will not be able to reduce their energy needs to
zero, because food production produces quite high emissions.
