This type of accelerating trend crops up when there is a feedback loop at work. Or take Australia, which in the same year introduced a carbon tax and started debating plans for a series of "mega-mines" that would massively increase its coal exports, helping build confidence among the companies and governments planning no fewer than 1,200 new coal-fired power stations around the world. My own thoughts about how we need to deal with climate change have certainly evolved over time, as we understand the climate system better and as time passes with emissions still increasing. Could the coronavirus crisis be the beginning of the end for the oil industry? Climate change is real and we see its effects clearly now: In 2019 worldwide, 15 extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, caused more than $1 billion in damage each. Forget peak oil caused by dwindling supplies. Why are fossil fuels bad? Coal became the preferred fuel for ships and locomotives, allowing them to dedicate less space to fuel storage. In either case, the CO2 would then be injected deep underground or used in an industrial process. One of the greatest challenges facing humanity today is slowing this warming before it changes our world beyond recognition. On the other hand, electric motors are much more efficient than internal combustion engines and electric vehicles are simpler mechanically, with many fewer moving parts. Nonetheless, because it is in a gaseous form, it requires specific infrastructure to reach customers, and natural gas is still wasted in areas where that infrastructure doesn’t exist. This is an engineering challenge, since the power grid operates in real time: Power is generated and consumed simultaneously, with generation varying to keep the system in balance. To deal with the challenge of climate change, we must start by understanding the fossil fuel system — namely how energy is produced and used. For example, the corn ethanol blended into gasoline in the United States averages only 39% lower CO2 emissions than the gasoline it replaces, given the emissions that occur from transporting the corn to processing facilities and converting it to fuel. Zoom back in on the past decade and it is clear that for all the mounting scientific concern, the political rhetoric and the clean technology, nothing has made a jot of difference to the long-term trend at the global level – the system level. Before we could make efficient use of solar flows, this seemed like a great idea. Power grids that cover a larger area are easier to balance, given that if it isn’t windy or sunny in one location, it may be somewhere else. When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon […] Power storage technologies can save excess electricity to be used later. Photograph: Peter McBride/Barcroft Media, Commenting has been disabled at this time but you can still, every science academy in the world accepts the mainstream view of man-made global warming, has agreed the world must limit the global temperature increase to 2C, the amount of warming we will experience goes up roughly in proportion to the total amount of carbon that global society emits, unconventional fossil fuel resources that companies are spending billions trying to access, we would emit almost 3tn tonnes of carbon dioxide, a collapse in Arctic sea ice coverage more severe than even the most pessimistic predictions from just a few years ago, As scientists from Lancaster University pointed out last year, population growth has dropped like a stone since the 1960s and is no longer exponential, export more of the coal to other countries such as China, Obama is also set to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, gives tax-breaks to encourage oil and gas recovery, growing its total carbon footprint by relying ever more on Chinese factories, regularly begs Saudi Arabia and the other Opec nations to produce not less oil, but more, nations are trying simultaneously to "reduce demand for fossil fuels and increase supply", triggering more road building, more trade and indeed more big suburban houses that take more energy to heat, and each year they get more expensive relative to renewables and nuclear, Forget peak oil caused by dwindling supplies, a write-off of fuel reserves worth many trillions of dollars. One asked: “Could the coronavirus crisis be the beginning of the end for the oil industry?” Another: “Will the coronavirus kill the oil industry and help save the climate?” Meanwhile, 2020 annual greenhouse gas emissions are forecast to decline between 4 – 7% as a result of the virus’ effects, and some of the world’s smoggiest cities are currently enjoying clear skies. These processes use electricity to, in effect, run the combustion process backwards, and thus use large amounts of energy. Why We Need to Stop Using Fossil Fuels? Why? Electric vehicles are a much-touted solution for replacing oil, but they are not perfect for all uses. These advantages make up for some of the battery’s weight penalty, but an electric vehicle will still be heavier than a similar vehicle running on fossil fuel. Four of these events each caused more than $10 billion in damage. A properly designed global cap and trade scheme is one option. Globally, the vast majority of people want climate change dealt with. The pre-fossil era was not the utopia we envision. Another pathway is to convert renewable electricity into a combustible fuel. Oil was the next major energy source to emerge. It has been corrected to 9.3%. Even if we humans had the technology to simulate the process of the formation of fossil fuels, we can't wait around for millions of years to accumulate and "harvest" enough of … For these processes, the world needs zero-carbon fuels that mimic the properties of fossil fuels — energy-dense fuels that can be burned. Greater energy density means that a smaller weight or volume of fuel is needed to do the job. Fossil fuels are a finite resource and each year they get more expensive relative to renewables and nuclear. Will investments in greener energy be yet another victim of the coronavirus. The fossil fuel industries would cease to exist, so would their $5 trillion of annual revenue. The once lush forests of England were denuded. Renewable electricity generation alone won’t get us there — this is an all-technologies-on-deck problem. As you can imagine, this created an enormous amount of waste. New renewable or nuclear power sources might just lead to more economic activity, increasing demand and supply of all energy sources, including fossil fuels. But the second part of today’s energy challenge is providing modern energy to the billion people in the developing world that don’t currently have it. Although we often hear more about green technology, consumption levels or population growth, leaving fuel in the ground is the crux of the issue. Will the coronavirus kill the oil industry and help save the climate? It is in our nature to be protective off our comfort zone. Hydroelectric dams can serve this function now, and declining costs will make batteries more economic for power storage on the grid. There’s a lot of money in fossil fuels, and so consumers have to vote with their wallet and show energy companies they want clean energy. If we are lucky, the impact of burning all that oil, coal and gas could turn out to be at the less severe end of the plausible spectrum. For example, a credit card debt grows exponentially because interest gets applied to ever more interest. But the US is extracting carbon and flowing it into the global energy system faster than ever before. Now that there are almost eight billion of us, we clearly see the impact of rising CO2 concentrations. They’re not worried about it. Apart from photosynthesis, humans made some use of wind and water power, also ultimately fueled by the sun. It is about the same as the temperature increase observed since the ice age's "last glacial maximum", when much of the northern hemisphere was trapped under ice as thick as the world's five tallest skyscrapers stacked on top of each other. Even if we gave up on all the obscure and unconventional fossil fuel resources that companies are spending billions trying to access and just burned the "proven" oil, coal and gas reserves – the ones that are already economically viable – we would emit almost 3tn tonnes of carbon dioxide. Until that moment, I hadn’t thought enough about how my experience and background give me a clearer view than many on the promise and challenge of moving to a cleaner energy system. More Reasons For America To Stop Using Fossil Fuels. There’s no reason to expect this trend to slow down anytime soon. Nonetheless, we need to find a way to get back to reliance on real-time solar flows (and perhaps nuclear energy) to meet our needs. Why can't we just stop using fossil fuels? The idea of capturing CO2 and using it to produce more fossil fuel seems backwards — does that really reduce emissions overall? Any of these models could bring down global emissions and stimulate an explosion of investment and innovation in clean and efficient energy systems. Electricity, CO2, and hydrogen could be also combined to produce liquid fuels to replace diesel and jet fuel. Oil also allowed greater speed at sea and could be moved to boilers by pipe instead of manpower, both clear advantages. One: for all the uncertainty about the detail, every science academy in the world accepts the mainstream view of man-made global warming. The resulting fuels freed humanity from its reliance on photosynthesis and current biomass production as its primary energy source. Obama boasts that American emissions are now falling due to rising auto efficiency standards and gas displacing dirtier coal in the energy mix. Stiff taxes on the production or sale of carbon-based fuels is another. If maintaining some fossil fuel use with carbon capture is the easiest way to deal with certain sources of emissions, that’s still solving the fundamental problem. We need to take action now where it’s easiest, in the electricity and light vehicle sectors, and in making new buildings extremely energy efficient. It is not feasible to immediately stop extracting and using fossil fuels. A reporter raised that very question to me after a press Q&A that I did at a conference a few years ago. In England, wood became scarce in the 1500s and 1600s, since it was not only used for fuel, but also for building material. The problem is that this energy is diffuse. Although it rarely gets commented on, Britain – along with other supposedly green nations such as Germany – regularly begs Saudi Arabia and the other Opec nations to produce not less oil, but more. Combining new renewables with these existing sources represents an opportunity to decarbonize — or eliminate CO2 emissions from — the electricity sector. But we also have technologies today that are much more efficient than photosynthesis at transforming solar flows to useful energy. We understand today that humanity’s use of fossil fuels is severely damaging our environment. Phasing out fossil fuel-fired power plants, vehicles, ships and factories at the end of their lifetime and replacing it with zero-carbon alternatives gives us a 65 percent chance of keeping global warming below 1.5°C. And soon. The United States can take climate change seriously while leading the world in oil and gas production, Brookings experts comment on oil market developments and geopolitical tensions. For all the confident opinion on both sides, no one can say for sure, just as no one can be certain how human society will fare in a warming world. In the face of such stark polarization, the focus on practical solutions can get lost — and practicality and ingenuity are the renewable resources humanity needs to meet the climate challenge. The impact of burning fossil fuels on human health is also a major concern. Of course, oil, coal and gas use will level off eventually no matter what we do. It is not feasible to immediately stop extracting and using fossil fuels. Some pundits are now asking if this crisis could be the push the world needs to move away from oil. Yes, I’ve studied for exams with just candlelight. That might sound hard to believe. Throughout history, humanity’s energy use has moved toward more concentrated, convenient, and flexible forms of energy. The most common use for captured CO2 today is in enhanced oil recovery, where pressurized CO2 is injected into an oil reservoir to squeeze out more oil. In 1900, roughly 50,000 horses pulled cabs and buses around the streets of London, not including carts to transport goods. So much for carbon cuts. Oil changed the course of history. Indeed, though our governments now subsidise clean-power sources and efficient cars and buildings – and encourage us all to use less energy – they are continuing to undermine all that by ripping as much oil, coal and gas out of the ground as possible. Can humanity muster the restraint and cooperation needed to leave assets worth trillions in the ground? The cumulative nature of the climate system means that we need more stringent measures the longer that we wait. Oil entered the market as a replacement for whale oil for lighting, with gasoline produced as a by-product of kerosene production. We think of fossil fuels as dangerous to the environment because of the massive amounts of carbon emissions they create when they are burned. The German army’s blitzkrieg strategy became impossible when fuel supplies could not keep up, and a lack of fuel took a toll on the Japanese navy. London, for instance, grew from 60,000 people in 1534 to 530,000 in 1696, and the price of firewood and lumber rose faster than any other commodity. And for as long as that continues, the global energy feedback loop will ensure that many of the things we assume will help may be ineffective – or even counterproductive. But given the continued acceleration not just in fossil fuel extraction but in the production of cars, boilers, furnaces and power plants that need oil, coal and gas to function, there is zero prospect of that happening of its own accord any time soon. The number of algae in a jar grows in the same way: as long as there is food and air, there will be more algae and so they can breed faster.The fact that our carbon emissions have followed the same accelerating trend suggests that our use of energy is driven by a similar kind of feedback loop which is cancelling out apparent green gains. We are in the process of quitting fossil fuels over several decades. Like oil, electricity’s first use was in lighting, but the development of the induction motor allowed electricity to be efficiently converted to mechanical energy, powering everything from industrial processes to household appliances and vehicles. — game below: “A president’s climate quandary.”). Fossil fuels did this over hundreds of millions of years, using a natural process; that's why fossil fuels have so much energy. As journalist George Monbiot once put it, nations are trying simultaneously to "reduce demand for fossil fuels and increase supply". They formed from the transformation of ancient plants through pressure, temperature, and tens to hundreds of millions of years, essentially storing the sun’s energy over time. In more recent times, natural gas has become valued for its clean, even combustion and its usefulness as a feedstock for industrial processes. But that is hardly reassuring: it's akin to saying that it is fine to walk blindfolded into a main road since you can't be sure there are any cars coming. Going back to the old days of relying mostly on biomass for our energy needs is clearly not a solution. For example, exposure to particulates released from coal power plants has been proven to increase death through respiratory and cardiac problems (Grahame and Schlesinger, 2007). In the heating sector fuel oil is replaced by electricity often using … There are three facts that tell you all you really need to know about climate science and politics. I have gained a wide-angle view of the energy industry as I’ve moved through my career, working in government and in consulting — for both oil and gas and clean energy clients — and then moving into the think tank world. 121 concerns when he told the nation in a televised speech: “World consumption of oil is still going up. Fossil fuels powered the industrial revolution, pulled millions out of poverty, and shaped the modern world. So coal use kept rising too – and oil use in turn kept increasing as cleaner gas, nuclear and hydro came on stream, helping power the digital age, which unlocked more advanced technologies capable of opening up harder-to-read fossil-fuel reserves. There are three reasons why many countries can’t quit fossil fuels: 1. As with the climate, to understand the situation properly it is necessary to zoom right out to see the long-term trend. In sum, the story of energy transitions through history has not just been about moving away from current solar flows and toward fossil fuels. Why can’t we stop using fossil fuels? To order a copy for £7.99 with free UK p&p, go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop or call 0330 333 6846, Despite the clean technology of the past decade, we continue to extract and burn fossil fuels more than ever before, A coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen, Germany dwarfs a wind turbine in the foreground. Finally, fossil fuel generation often fills in the gaps in renewable generation today, especially natural gas generation, which can be efficiently ramped up and down to meet demand. Sceptics argue that this doomsday scenario might not come to pass – and they are right. Science clearly tells us that we need to remake our energy system and eliminate CO2 emissions. But the sun is at the center of this system, and people could only use the energy that the sun provided in real time, mostly from plants. Gas produced with oil was often wasted in the early days of the oil industry, and an old industry saying was that looking for oil and finding gas instead was a quick way to get fired. No one can say exactly how much warming that would cause, but it is overwhelmingly likely that we would shoot well past 2C and towards 3C or even 4C of warming. A final key development in world energy use was the emergence of electricity in the 20th century. Well, are you willing to live without heat and air conditioning? By 1900, coal was the primary industrial fuel, taking over from biomass to make up half the world’s fuel use. I’ve changed my mind, with a greater understanding of processes that will be hard to decarbonize any other way. In other words: Sooner action is better. https://wordpressua.uark.edu/sustain/3-reasons-we-are-still-using-fossil-fuels One compelling reason for it, from an economists’ viewpoint, is that fossil fuels impose costs on society — “externalities” — that users do not share. Because oil — an energy-dense liquid — is so fit-for-purpose in transport, little of it goes to electricity; in contrast, roughly 63% of coal produced worldwide is used to generate electricity. This balance between human energy use and sunlight sounds like utopia, but as the human population grew and became more urban, the bio-based energy system brought problems. Hydrogen can be produced by using renewable electricity to split water atoms into their hydrogen and oxygen components. That led to better technologies and materials that eventually helped ramp up production of oil as well. The world today is unrecognizable from that of the early 19th century, before fossil fuels came into wide use. Some existing forms of generating electricity, mainly nuclear and hydroelectricity, also don’t result in CO2 emissions. Minimizing the impact of climate change requires re-making a multi-trillion-dollar industry that lies at the center of the economy and people’s lives. They are energy-dense, averaging twice the energy content of coal, by weight. As clean energy infrastructure improves, it will start to take over the energy demand from fossil fuels, so we can phase it out of use. To decarbonize processes that rely on these qualities, you need low-carbon fuels that mimic the qualities of fossil fuels. Eliminating unpopular energy sources or technologies, like nuclear or carbon capture, from the conversation is short-sighted. Energy flow into electricity is very efficient, flexible, clean, and thus use amounts... Stationary applications like heavy industry to preserving biodiversity, there are many reasons stop! 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