 |
The
burning of fossil fuels, like coal and oil,
is the largest contributor to global warming
pollution. Impacts from climate change to our
environment include increases in extreme weather
events, rising sea levels and temperatures,
which contribute to the spread of tropical diseases,
exacerbation of smog pollution and increase
in heat-related illnesses. Global warming is
one of our toughest environmental challenges,
threatening the health of people, wildlife and
economies around the world. Clean energy is
one of the solutions.
Clean energy is energy derived from highly efficient,
clean technologies, including renewable energy
and combined heat and power. Clean energy is
generally considered to include: geothermal,
wind power, small-scale hydropower, solar power,
biomass power, tidal power and wave power. The
goals of renewable energy development are reduction
of reliance on fossil and nuclear fuels, reduction
of greenhouse gas and other emissions, and establishment
of a sustainable source of energy. |
|
|
|
 |
 |
Global
Warming |
|
The
¡§Greenhouse Effect¡¨ is a term that refers to a physical
property of the Earth's atmosphere If the Earth had
no atmosphere, its average surface temperature would
be very low of about -18¢J rather than the comfortable
15¢J found today. Due to greenhouse gases, the atmosphere
absorbs more infrared energy than it re-radiates to
space, resulting in a net warming of the Earth-atmosphere
system and of surface temperature. The major greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere are carbon dioxide (CO2),
methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) and ozone (O3).
Global climate change resulting from the widespread
burning of fossil fuels is the most important environmental
problem of our time, and the most serious that has
ever confronted humanity. By the year 2100, according
to the prestigious Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), the Earth's average temperature can
be expected to warm by 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. This
is a modest increase, but likely consequences include:
the spread of tropical diseases; disruption of agriculture
due to drought and changes in rainfall patterns; elimination
of many now endangered species; increasing numbers
of deaths during summer heat waves; and increasingly
severe tropical storms.
Carbon dioxide is one of the most prevalent greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere. Anthropogenic (human-caused)
emissions of carbon dioxide result primarily from
the combustion of fossil fuels for energy, and as
a result world energy use has emerged at the center
of the climate change debate. In the International
Energy Outlook 2005 (IEO2005) reference case, world
carbon dioxide emissions are projected to rise from
24,409 million metric tons in 2002 to 33,284 million
metric tons in 2015 and 38,790 million metric tons
in 2025 .
Wind energy and other renewable energy sources can
play a crucial role in reducing emissions of carbon
dioxide (CO2), the leading "greenhouse gas"
associated with global warming. A single utility-scale
wind turbine, by displacing power generated by fossil
fuels, can prevent the emission of 5,000 tons of CO2
into the atmosphere each year. Wind turbines are extremely
effective at reducing emissions of carbon dioxide
(CO2), the leading greenhouse gas.
A single 750-kilowatt (kW) wind
turbine, typical of those now being installed in power
plants around the world, produces roughly 2 million
kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually.
Based on the U.S. average fuel mix, approximately
1.5 pounds of CO2 is emitted for every kWh generated.
This means that an average wind turbine prevents the
emission of
2 million kWh x 1.5 pounds CO2/kWh =
3 million pounds of CO2 =
1500 tons of CO2 each year.
According to Our Ecological Footprint, (Wackemagel
& Rees, 1996), a forest absorbs approximately
3 tons of CO2 per acre of trees per year.
Thus, a single 750kW wind turbine prevents as much
carbon dioxide from being emitted each year as could
be absorbed by 500 acres of forest. ¡]Information
from AWEA¡^ |
|
|
|
Global Energy Trend |
|
|
