{"id":396,"date":"2007-11-26T10:54:03","date_gmt":"2007-11-26T10:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.energyrefuge.com\/blog\/carbon-emissions-and-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2017-09-05T17:54:54","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T21:54:54","slug":"carbon-emissions-and-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.energyrefuge.com\/blog\/carbon-emissions-and-climate\/","title":{"rendered":"Carbon emissions and climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent report from the International Energy Agency and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which in the 2007 edition looks at energy-hungry China and India warns that a gargantuan switch to burning coal will make it harder to limit global warming in the coming 25 years. According to an article in the New Scientist<\/a>, “the report said that coal demand will increase by 73% between 2005 and 2030, with 80% of the predicted increase in China and India. Already, these two countries account for 45% of all coal burnt, and demand is likely to rise as the relatively cleaner fossil fuels \u00e2\u20ac\u201c oil and natural gas \u00e2\u20ac\u201c become scarcer and more expensive”.<\/p>\n

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This is dire news, but, instead of taking the apocalyptic view and not bother any more since all seems to be lost, it is more fruitful to take the opposite, pro-active view: if we do try to change things within our capacity, collectively we will create a ripple effect that will have an impact on government, the souce of all main changes and industry regulations. So, when we hear bad news about climate change, we should see that as an incentive to switch to renewable energy, recycle and consume with a green conscience rathen than succumb to nihilism.<\/p>\n

We know that the emission of carbon into the atmosphere is the primary source of climate change and power plants play a major role in the process. A useful place to find out how over 50,000 power plants around the world are doing is the Carbon Monitoring for Action (Carma) website<\/a>. The map of the United States is dotted with red alert signs, alongside Asia, which is one big red blur. Interestingly, South America has no signs on it at all, even though two of the biggest power-producing plants in the world are there.<\/p>\n

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