FOSSIL FUELS

There is no place for fossil fuels as an energy source in today's society

There is no Place for Fossil Fuels as an Energy Source in Today's Society

The land is capable of absorbing carbon dioxide release of 3 gigatons per year, although the exact level of such absorption is unknown. The current carbon footprint is 9 gigatonnes, and two thirds of this amount is associated with the burning of fossil fuels.

In addition to the release of carbon dioxide, fossil fuel production and use of technologies to control emissions to air and water of other harmful substances (other than carbon dioxide) also contribute to environmental degradation, which often takes on serious proportions in the local and regional level. Furthermore, the use of fossil fuel present methods contain the risk of climate change that are not yet well understood, but may be catastrophic and irreversible. Of all the fossil fuel natural gas provides maximum energy output per unit of carbon emissions (Goldemberg, 2009).

However, the level of modern technology, natural gas itself is not able to meet global energy needs, especially taking into account the fact that the energy needs of the majority of the world today are not satisfied. Moreover, leakage from pipelines of natural gas (methane) contribute to global warming is much larger (though not completely explored the degree) than the carbon dioxide in the intermolecular level.

Current uses of fossil fuels as energy sources

Nowadays fossil fuels are used for a myriad of purposes, fitting within the following categories:

Commercial use

Generation of electricity

Residential use

Transportation

Uses in industry

In the current situation, nuclear power produces much less emissions than they produced during the combustion of fossil fuels. However, it carries a serious risk of accidents such as Chernobyl, accompanied by severe and prolonged effects of covering large areas. In addition, the security threat posed by large stocks of weapons-usable nuclear materials, has no analogue in the use of fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels could be used to a lesser extent during the transition to an economy based on the use of renewable fuels. If measures to increase carbon consumption would have been economically justified, the consumption of fossil fuels could even increase (Kemp, 2006).

Natural gas could act as a transition fuel towards the use of hydrogen emitted by solar energy, biomass, and playing of wind energy. Under certain circumstances, solar and wind energy could be quite profitable (in regions with high wind speeds or high insulation and little precipitation). Of course, these energy ...