The IEA estimates that CO2 emissions will increase by almost 5% this year to 33 billion tonnes. The critical driver is coal demand, which the IEA predicts to grow by 4.5%. The electricity sector accounts for three-quarters of this increase.
Lovely pictures to balance with a dreary topic. But I saw something I didn't expect to cheer me up within your message. Coal is the big conundrum in the fight against the use of GHGs. Here, you point out that 3/4 of coal is used to generate electricity. If fusion energy, or small fission reactors become practical, they could replace that coal very quickly. (Solar and wind preferred, but not likely to have enough energy density.) Coal-fired generating stations are connected to electricity grids and thus are already set up to distribute that energy.
It's much harder to replace coal in many isolated industrial situations like cement and steel-making. Fortunately, those uses are less significant globally.
So lovely that you started & ended this piece with photos of your walk in beautiful nature. What lies in the middle is extremely worrying. It’s unfathomable that as each of these reports reveal the dire predicament we are in due to fossil fuels & carbon emissions it goes unheeded with little change. As Greta Thunberg said many months ago ‘Our house is on fire!’ but we seem content to let it burn.
The news on renewables is encouraging but scarcely enough to offset the growing carbon emissions. Electing leaders who understand science & commit to immediate & drastic action is vital.
Lovely photos but an alarming article. Yes, we now have a president who cares about the climate. This week even the major networks have been doing stories about climate change and what measures can be taken to decelerate some of the effects of our mechanized nations. How many are viable and will really affect carbon emission is debatable. At least with such coverage of the topic and under the prodding of constituents perhaps legislators will take action.
Lovely pictures to balance with a dreary topic. But I saw something I didn't expect to cheer me up within your message. Coal is the big conundrum in the fight against the use of GHGs. Here, you point out that 3/4 of coal is used to generate electricity. If fusion energy, or small fission reactors become practical, they could replace that coal very quickly. (Solar and wind preferred, but not likely to have enough energy density.) Coal-fired generating stations are connected to electricity grids and thus are already set up to distribute that energy.
It's much harder to replace coal in many isolated industrial situations like cement and steel-making. Fortunately, those uses are less significant globally.
So lovely that you started & ended this piece with photos of your walk in beautiful nature. What lies in the middle is extremely worrying. It’s unfathomable that as each of these reports reveal the dire predicament we are in due to fossil fuels & carbon emissions it goes unheeded with little change. As Greta Thunberg said many months ago ‘Our house is on fire!’ but we seem content to let it burn.
The news on renewables is encouraging but scarcely enough to offset the growing carbon emissions. Electing leaders who understand science & commit to immediate & drastic action is vital.
I'm wordless about the CO2 spike graph increases after 2010 and 2021 indicating a pattern?
Lovely photos but an alarming article. Yes, we now have a president who cares about the climate. This week even the major networks have been doing stories about climate change and what measures can be taken to decelerate some of the effects of our mechanized nations. How many are viable and will really affect carbon emission is debatable. At least with such coverage of the topic and under the prodding of constituents perhaps legislators will take action.