Global Energy Futures And The Carbon Dioxide Problem

"As the world deals with Climate Change it has become clear that the time for delays is over and we need to come up with a complete time bound plan that is adequate in preventing excessive temperature rise and then to implement it! That is what this book offers. It describes a detailed plan that will help our Earth transform to one that has plenty of renewable energy, improves the living conditions of people, and is beautiful and healthy. There is no question of doing without or even going backwards. The Book shows that there can be plenty of renewable energy for our expanding global energy needs while we are getting rid of fossil fuels and reducing our carbon emissions from them to zero by 2050 in order to keep global average temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius (1.5C). This is the temperature rise which the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned us we must not exceed in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Since Global Warming is a GLOBAL issue, the book presents a Global Energy Plan that is quantitatively adequate and timebound, in order to achieve that by the year 2050. It also presents detailed and quantitative energy, climate and ecosystem plans for the US, California, China, India, the European Union and general plans for other categories of nations. The variability of renewable energy (especially Solar) is overcome by showing that this energy can be stored in large quantities. The plans are technically feasible (meaning that they can be applied practically) and are economically viable (meaning that they are within the financial capacity of global society). While most of the plan can be implemented by current technical capabilities, the book shows that there is much scope for technical, social, business and political innovations that will increase our capabilities, which we are fully capable of. So, leave gloom and doom behind. For the world and for each of the nations for which plans are presented, the book describes the worsening conditions that are hurting these nations in a big way (from worsening natural disasters, to bad pollutions, worsening health, and the worsening conditions for agriculture, water shortages and heat waves), and why these nations CANNOT AFFORD to delay implementation of climate change solutions of the type described in the book. Since a temperature rise of about 1.5C will still happen, the book describes a detailed plan for year round and organized disaster risk reduction for all the natural disasters worsened by climate change, and the strategies for adapting to heat waves, floods and droughts. Once we have achieved that, we will then need to come up with a plan to bring the temperature and carbon dioxide levels back down. Although the plan in the book does not rely on carbon absorption for this and treats it as a bonus, it further supplements it with global plans for carbon sinks (that absorb carbon) like afforesting the earth over one billion hectares, restoring degrading land masses, expanding all coastal ecosystems over the entire globe, and transforming to a regenerative agriculture. This will do much to begin to restore biodiversity and begin to stop the extinction of species. It will also begin to provide greater health and beauty to our living planet, the like of which we have never seen. The US Green New Deal (GND) is a very good set of aspirations that aims at what the US should do to help with its share of solving the climate crisis, while at the same time improving the lives of people. The book describes how its plan will implement the mobilization goals described in the Green New Deal. It then goes on to describe a Global Green New Deal, and what this will mean for the world. Most importantly, the book also includes a global plan for strengthening and empowering a United Nations based global organization to plan, organize, fund, coordinate and implement the global plan"--

The first part of the conference explores two major environmental concerns that arise from fuel use: (1) the prospect that the globe will become warmer as a result of emissions of carbon dioxide, and (2) the effect upon health of the fine particles emitted as combustion products. The conference focused on the fact that there was lack of data direct enough to enable us to predict an entirely satisfactory result, and that makes policy options particularly difficult. With regard to (1) above, in the second half of the 20th century there were major increases in anthropogenic C02 emissions, and it is generally agreed that these were responsible for an increase in C02 concentrations. But the relationship between global temperature and CO2 concentrations remains murky. The principal problem is that water vapor is a more important greenhouse gas than C02 and that the concentrations of water vapor vary widely in time and space. The approach to this problem is probably, but not certainly, a positive feedback effect: as temperature increases so does the water vapor leading to further temperature increases. Scientists associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tend to believe the general features of the models. Other scientists are often less convinced.

Global energy needs are expanding substantially as populations grow and economies develop around the world. There is clear evidence that continued use of fossil fuels as the world's dominant energy supply is damaging the environment and causing changes in global climate patterns. People want higher levels of more efficient, cleaner, and less obtrusive energy services. How much of those needs will be met by fossil fuels, how much by alternative fuels, and how much by efficiency increases and expanded energy conservation is a wide open question. Global Energy Perspectives describes the results of a five-year joint study by the International Institute for Applied systems Analysis and the World Energy Council. It presents six long-term energy futures which lay out the alternatives among future fuels, technologies, efficiency gains, conservation patterns, and pollution levels, and pinpoints the key choices that are most likely to characterize the twenty-first century. The primary audience will include researchers, educators, policy makers in private and public sectors and other workers in the energy, technology, economics and environmental areas, but the book will appeal to anyone interested in the future of energy production as a prerequisite for human development.

This important compendium deals with the primary world problems of global warming and the coming energy crisis. In alternating chapters, it lays out the nature of the two interrelated problems, and specifies the various economic considerations. Thus, it describes the coming shortfall of fossil fuel energy in detail and then presents the economic factors governing possible solutions. Written by two world renowned academics — a physicist who writes about the nature of the problem, and an economist who discusses various scenarios and solutions, this unique must-have book highlights the problem from the point of view of a scientist and an economist. Request Inspection Copy

The United States and China are the top two energy consumers in the world. As a consequence, they are also the top two emitters of numerous air pollutants which have local, regional, and global impacts. Urbanization has led to serious air pollution problems in U.S. and Chinese cities; although U.S. cities continues to face challenges, the lessons they have learned in managing energy use and air quality are relevant to the Chinese experience. This report summarizes current trends, profiles two U.S. and two Chinese cities, and recommends key actions to enable each country to continue to improve urban air quality.