The solution to all of
our fossil fuel problems is, in fact, at hand, with the technologies already in hand.
You could also get hydrogen from natural gas (which would be more efficient than burning gasoline from a CO2 perspective, though that's assuming fuel cells are affordable), but you're back to having
a fossil fuel problem (not to mention the national security problems this could cause to many countries, making them even more dependent on natural gas producers).
While our political leaders are running around debating cap and trade, emissions treaties, fracking, or worse yet just ignoring
the fossil fuel problem, Amory Lovins and his dedicated gang at the Rocky Mountain Institute have quietly put together the manifesto for achieving the era of sustainable energy.
The frustration and squabbling you see regarding much smaller problems has to do with the organized corporate disinformation campaign regarding both the warming and
fossil fuel problem.
Although most people think of climate change as
a fossil fuel problem, agriculture, forestry, land - use change, and other land uses, (the «land sector»), account for about 24 % of global greenhouse gas emission.
Not exact matches
These exchanges bring fresh ideas, new perspectives and different ways of approaching
problems, which are all catalysts for the innovation which
fuels the economy and help us meet global challenges, ranging from climate change to
fossil fuel dependence and infectious diseases.
However, suppose that the countries can trade the rights to exploit
fossil -
fuel deposits: As soon as the market clears, the above - mentioned
problems vanish and the first - best is implemented.
The remaining funds went towards two companies aimed at reducing humanity's dependence on
fossil fuels and so counteracting the
problem of climate change: Tesla Motors ($ 70m), a luxury electric car manufacturer that has since expanded to provide energy to homes and businesses through battery technology; and SolarCity ($ 10m) which seeks to offer a cleaner and more affordable energy solution.
The
problem is aggravated by a model of development based on the intensive use of
fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the worldwide energy system.
Some results of the automobile are obviously pernicious, such as highway deaths; but it remains to be seen whether the automobile's destruction of
fossil fuels and its creation of pollutants turn out to be even worse
problems.
«Retrograde actions by the Trump administration — backtracking on COP 21, deregulating
Fossil Fuels, rolling back environmental protections — will lead to many Superstorms like Sandy, more contaminated water like Flint and Hoosick Falls, worsening Asthma and respiratory
problems, further poisoning the lungs of our Bronx babies,» said Judy Sheridan - Gonzalez, the president of the New York State Nurses Associations.
Addressing the issue of excessive consumption of
fossil fuel is one of many
problems that have fallen victim of this need to self justify and hate, rather than solve a
problem that affects everyone.
The signers of Monday's letter also argue that any of the fund's gains from such companies are zeroed out by the tens of billions of dollars spent each year to combat public health
problems associated with
fossil fuels.
«Divesting from
fossil fuel stocks doesn't solve the
problem, but it sends a huge message that government and its citizens should not be investing in the type of
fuel that we know increase the
problems we face rather than decrease and reverse the outcome of climate change.»
SCARRED landscapes, billowing smoke, seabirds writhing in liquorice gloop: there's no denying
fossil fuels have an image
problem.
Common
problem but differing approaches Climate change is every country's
problem, but the developed and developing worlds have very different challenges ahead of them in transitioning their energy systems away from
fossil fuels, according to the IEA report.
Considering what is possible and what is desirable in our energy future, Smil argues that human dependence on
fossil fuels must be reduced not because of impending resource shortages but because of the environmental, economic, and political
problems caused by our current consumption.
«As long as
fossil fuels are the cheapest
fuel we will burn them and not solve the
problem.»
The sun has been storing
fossil fuels for hundreds of millions of years and we're using them up in hundreds of years, so that's a
problem.
We achieved that by tapping the energy in
fossil fuels, in the process turning a carrying capacity
problem into a climate change
problem.
That agriculture, rather than
fossil fuels, is driving methane poses a new set of
problems for governments trying to fight climate change, Schaefer says.
Which green
problems catch your attention - pesticides in foods, new recycling possibilities,
fossil fuel alternatives, causes of polar ice melt?
The
problem arises when you alter this «natural» balance by pulling
fossil fuels from underground, with no means of reabsorbing the carbon.
Wind power is one of the key sources of renewable energy expected to play an important role in helping to cut emissions and wean society from its dependence on
fossil fuels, which means wind - power companies must be prepared to quickly fix mechanical
problems that threaten to slow down renewable energy production.
A
problem is that markets for trading carbon dioxide focus on cuts in emissions at power plants and factories burning
fossil fuels, not renewable energies which are viewed as green.
Cities in the United States are taking oil companies to court, arguing that they should pay for climate - related
problems caused by the burning of
fossil fuels.
«There is a danger in believing that land carbon sinks can solve the
problem of atmospheric carbon emissions because this legitimises the ongoing use of
fossil fuels,» Professor Mackey said.
Supporting his «moral obligation» to step up to the fight now, Hansen adds in the Times article that burning a substantial fraction of Earth's
fossil fuels guarantees «unstoppable changes» in the planet's climate, leaving an unfixable
problem for future generations.
It was clear that climate change is an energy
problem — burning
fossil fuels to generate energy accounts for 74 per cent of human - made greenhouse gas emissions — but I could see that it was very difficult to change the energy industry from the outside and very little was happening on the inside.
Burning
fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil to heat and cool our buildings and run our vehicles takes a heavy toll on the environment, contributing significantly to both local
problems like elevated particulate levels and global ones like a warming climate.
The
problem is that it's twice the price of conventional
fossil fuel.»
Is the «business as usual» approach — subsidizing
fossil -
fuel supply and nuclear energy and large hydro projects, maintaining low energy prices to consumers by keeping environmental and political costs «external,» propping up oil supply by every available means — part of the solution or part of the
problem?
Our current
problems — especially climate change caused by burning
fossil fuels — are real.
If the researchers succeed in creating their synthetic bacteria, they will be closer to conceiving artificial creatures that could be used to mitigate some of society's greatest
problems, among them climate change and overdependence on
fossil fuels.
The study adds to earlier evidence that mothers» exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are emitted by the burning of
fossil fuels and other organic materials, are linked to children's behavioral
problems associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
«Although these results are «good news» in the sense that the underlying physiology of plants is not going to make the warming of the planet radically worse, the
problem we have created in the first place with our greenhouse gas emissions from
fossil fuel burning still exists,» he says.
Fossil fuels, which are technically forms of stored energy, pose plenty of
problems in their extraction, refining, distribution and delivery.
Isn't the main
problem that, even if we stopped adding any
fossil -
fuel - derived CO2 to the atmosphere, the ocean circulations haven't yet reached «steady state» — i.e., a stable thermocline and deep ocean temperature — and therefore THAT is the source of the Hansen et al. «heat in the pipeline»?
Increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis — a revolution in «green manufacturing» — might offer a biological solution to many of the current
problems facing Earth and our dependency on
fossil fuels.
But even this paper qualifies its predictions (whether or not aerosols would so increase was unknown) and speculates that nuclear power may have largely replaced
fossil fuels as a means of energy production (thereby, presumably, removing the aerosol
problem).
[Response: For climate purposes, the
problem is coal (and maybe methane hydrates)-- there is more than enough
fossil fuel reserves for the IPCC scenarios.
I guess «clean coal» (that reduces aerosol aspects, but not the CO2) is not a good solution to environmental
problems, even though it would reduce acid rain; better to reduce
fossil fuels altogether.
The
problem of global warming has resulted from human activities, primarily the burning of
fossil fuels and clearing of forests.
Coming back to the
problems with the study's methodology, perhaps the study's biggest failing is that it considers only the dollar value of subsidies to
fossil fuel producers — not their real - world impact on
fossil fuel production and investment decision - making.
Michigan State students note how Willie Soon now refutes research indicating adverse impacts from ocean acidification, a global crisis that is married to climate change (both
problems stem from humans burning
fossil fuels and releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere).
«But our work can be a catalyst for showing people that things like
fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions are a
problem and that we need to switch to greener sources.
[Response:
Fossil fuels are the main
problem but land use changes are a non trival part of it (something like 20 %).
Fossil fuels have run dry, global warming is in full effect, there are widespread social
problems stemming from a collapsing global economy.
the
problem is that the stoichiometric ratio (efficiency ratio) for (
fossil) gasoline is 14.7 parts air to 1 part
fuel.
To be honest, I, too, have on occasion found comfort in such facile explanations for the nation's abject failure to deal with so many glaring
problems, including several of interest to readers of car magazines: the pervasive failure to address global warming and finite supplies of
fossil fuels; tens of thousands of road fatalities year in and year out; the burgeoning safety risk caused by in - car communications and telematics; the failure to maintain the roads we've got while creating better ones and efficient alternatives; and, of course, our continued inability to buy new Peugeots in the United States.