Читать книгу Energy - Группа авторов - Страница 15

Climate change and climate change policies are two big energy sector contributors. Climate change policies adopted and enforced by different countries already influence planning, development and investment decisions at their locations. The transition from conventional fossil fuels to renewable energies, such as wind, geothermal, bioenergy and hydroelectricity has important implications for the goals of stable, clean and affordable energy, so that organizations and institutions responsible for achieving these goals must come forward and contribute.

The energy sector is highly responsible for climate change and is associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil‐fuel‐based manufacturing plants, particularly power plants. Consequently, the industry’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels requires this sector to be a priority of government remedial policies to regulate and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This could include a rigorous licencing system, strict emission quotas, carbon capture technologies and renewable portfolio standards. The industry is to be blamed for the heavy use of fossil fuels for causing climate change. The process begins with coal, gas and oil combustion, leading to the release of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, resulting in global warming. Even, there has been an ongoing debate on this subject as scientists have long tried to distinguish between human‐induced changes and those that may be attributed to natural climate variability. Since developed nations have the highest emissions levels, they must therefore bear the greatest responsibility for global warming. Furthermore, as a precautionary measure, developing countries must also take measures to mitigate possible emission increases as their economies grow and populations increase, as the Kyoto Protocol clearly emphasizes (United Nations 2001).

Importantly, human activities in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important contributors to future climate change, occur primarily through fossil fuel production. As a result, attempts to regulate CO2 emissions could negatively impact worldwide people’s economic growth, investment, trade, employment and living standards. The energy sector is highly responsible for climate change and is associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil‐fuel‐based manufacturing plants, particularly power plants. Consequently, the industry’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels requires this sector to be a priority of government remedial policies to regulate and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This could include a rigorous licencing system, strict emission quotas, carbon capture technologies and renewable portfolio standards. The industry is to be blamed for the heavy use of fossil fuels for causing climate change. The process begins with coal, gas and oil combustion, leading to the release of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, resulting in global warming. Even, there has been an ongoing debate on this subject as scientists have long tried to distinguish between human‐induced changes and those that may be attributed to natural climate variability. Since developed nations have the highest levels of emissions, they must therefore bear the greatest responsibility for global warming.