[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #27435: WORLD ENERGY -USE POTENTIAL AND THE ENVIRONMMENT

[WordPress Trac]

#27435: WORLD ENERGY -USE POTENTIAL AND THE ENVIRONMMENT
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 Reporter:  josephallotey3  |      Owner:
     Type:  enhancement     |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal          |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  General         |    Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal          |   Keywords:
  Focuses:                  |
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 The energy resources in the recent years had become an important element
 of the world socio-economic development. However, in as much as resource
 does not refer to a thing or a substance, but to a function that a thing
 or substance may perform, or an operation in which it may take part, the
 large-scale exploitation of the planet's resource base may well go down in
 history as a defining characteristic of the 20th century.Today the scale
 of resource consumption threatens the entire global ecosystem. Throughout
 the last century access to and control over natural resources was a source
 of conflict. Equally, patterns of resource consumption remain a major
 marker between the so-called 'developed' and 'developing' worlds.
 According to the World Bank ( 2002) in 1999 the so-called high-income
 countries accounted for 50.5 percent of global commercial energy use. I n
 the early 21st century, society is increasingly aware of the finite nature
 of the planet's resource base. Yet, a seeming relative abundance of supply
 has made us complacent, as has a blind belief that technological progress
 will solve the inevitable shortage of non-renewable resources. The
 available sources of fuels that provide the motive force for a wide range
 of human activities are the sun, nuclear energy, geothermal energy,and
 tidal energy. These had been described as renewable energy sources which
 could efficiently replace the fast depleting and non-renewable energy
 sources like the carbon and hydro-carbon fossil fuels. In light of current
 global warming situation caused by large carbon emission into the
 atmosphere, experts had been quite optimistic that the renewable energy
 sources are obviously the better alternatives. PATTERNS OF ENERGY
 CONSUMPTION Resources are as dynamic as civilization itself. In fact, one
 can suggest that each major human civilization was sustained by a
 particular set of resources and technologies for their exploitation. Thus,
 the archaeological record talks of the Stone Age and the Iron Age. In
 reference to the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, Simmons (1996)
 states that: 'industrialization based on the fossil fuel energy represents
 a turning point in the history of human-nature relations'.If the 19th
 century was based on the exploitation of coal, then the 21st century will
 be seen as the era of oil and gas. However, as the argument develops, it
 had been appreciated that the 21st should and would have important energy
 sources from nuclear, solar, tidal, hydro, geothermal, animal waste, wind
 and wave. For most of human history, societies have utilized renewable
 source of energy, low resources such as wood that can be depleted,
 sustained or increases by human activities. Since the invention of steam
 engines about 200 years ago, much of human society has become ever more
 dependent upon the exploitation of non-renewable energy resources. Today,
 three fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas account for for over 85
 percent of the annual sale of the world's most important minerals. Coal is
 still used in many industrial processes and as a source of heat and
 remains the most important fuel for electricity generation. However, it is
 a relatively bulky resource and in recent years, particularly in Western
 Europe, it has been unable to compete with oil that is more versatile or
 with cleaner natural gas. High oil prices, increasing demand for energy,
 consequences carbon emission on the environment and industrialization have
 now resulted in renewed interest in non- renewable sources of energy and
 even a growing enthusiasm for nuclear power; a more cleaner energy source
 and cost effective. As energy consumption and economic development are
 related there is a clarification on the fact that high income countries
 tend to consume more energy. But in a critical look at the pattern, some
 of these countries tend to have low level of energy consumption because of
 the introduction of energy-saving technologies and have exported energy-
 intensive industry offshore. The main focus of the Geneva conference in
 2010 was to cut down the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
 known to be the main cause of global warming and it's environmental
 complications. The United States Obama administration's advocacy on more
 cleaner energy was met by the onset of the still-to-be salvage Gulf Of
 Mexico British Petroleum oil spillage. Apparently, the Kyoto Protocol was
 intended to address similar carbon emission problems. Though, nuclear
 energy had been much appreciated and advocated in most circles, it is
 becoming increasingly apparent that the supposed benefits were far out
 -weighed by the environmental problems it posed. criticisms leveled
 against nuclear by critics is listed as: That reactor operations and
 transport or irradiated fuels cannot be guaranteed safe against
 catastrophic accidents. That radioactive waste has to be disposed of
 safely and reactors have to be decommissioned, all of which is extremely
 costly That the reactors need to be kept safe and secure from theft or
 misappropriation, to make nuclear weapons. Over the years public trust on
 nuclear power has been significantly eroded by a number of serious
 accidents such those at Wind-scale, Cumbria, in the UK in 1957, Three Mile
 Island in the USA in 1979 and Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986. Despite
 these problems, in 1998 nuclear power accounted for 16 percent of global
 electricity generation; but it has been very much an option for the
 developed world, partly due to cost and technology, but also due to
 concerns over the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. In view of the
 increasing energy demands and concerns of efficiency in energy-use,
 environmental situation, solar energy, wind power, biomass energy,
 geothermal energy could well be harness to salvage the problems.

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