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Renewables
Growing global need for energy | Scarceness and price of fossil fuels | Climate Protection | Political factors | Kyoto Protocol
Growing global need for energy
The international energy agency of the OECD (Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development) have predicted in their “World
Energy Outlook 2006” that by 2030, global energy needs will increase by
53 percent compared to 2006 level. The demand for electric power is
growing faster than any other energy need and it is anticipated that
this demand will increase by 2.4 percent every year.
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Scarcity and price of fossil fuels
Presently, the global demand for energy is met mainly by fossil
fuels such as petroleum, natural gas and coal. Fossil fuel reserves may
last for the next few decades, but are not sufficient to meet long-term
energy requirements. Nuclear energy only covers a small part of global
energy demands and the availability of uranium is limited.
Furthermore, energy prices are clearly expected to rise because fossil
fuel sources are increasingly becoming more difficult to extract and
the reserves must be transported from farther away. top
Climate Protection
The warming of the earth’s climate is a widely recognized fact. Scientists have asserted that there is a
connection between the change in climate and the greenhouse effect
caused by mankind’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The growing number
of environmental catastrophes exemplifies the urgency of this problem.
A major part of the CO2 emissions are released when fossil fuels are
burned in order to generate energy. top
Political Factors
Key politicians at all levels of government have recognized the
effects of increasing CO2 emissions and have agreed on measures to deal
with this problem.
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Kyoto Protocol
In 1997, members of the United Nations ratified the Kyoto
Protocol, which is an agreement to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions. Also in 1997, the European Union set goals to increase
the share of renewable energy resources to 12 percent by the year 2010.
Hence, various EU member countries have initiated legislation in
order to encourage renewable energy forms.
According to the International Energy Agency of the OECD, the
percentage of global energy needs that can be met by renewable energy
resources will greatly increase. Bioenergy and wind energy are
both the fastest growing areas in the development of renewable energy
resources. By the end of 2006, more than 58,982 megawatts were
generated; enough to provide 30 million households (in industrialized
countries) with energy. In the future a yearly growth rate of wind
energy capacity of about 25 percent is expected. top
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