Moriarty / Honnery Rise and Fall of the Carbon Civilisation

Resolving Global Environmental and Resource Problems
1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84996-483-8
Verlag: Springer-Verlag
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 223 Seiten

A vast amount has been written on climate change and what should be our response. Rise and Fall of the Carbon Civilisation suggests that most of this literature takes a far too optimistic position regarding the potential for conventional mitigation solutions to achieve the deep cuts in greenhouse gases necessary in the limited time frame we have available. In addition, global environmental problems, as exemplified by climate change, and global resource problems - such as fossil fuel depletion or fresh water scarcity - have largely been seen as separate issues. Further, proposals for solution of these problems often focus at the national level, when the problems are global. The authors argue that the various challenges the planet faces are both serious and interconnected. Rise and Fall of the Carbon Civilisation takes a global perspective in its treatment of various solutions: • renewable energy; • nuclear energy; • energy efficiency; • carbon sequestration; and • geo-engineering. It also addresses the possibility that realistic solutions cannot be achieved until the fundamentally ethical question of global equity - both across nations today and also inter-generational - is fully addressed. Such an approach will also involve reorienting the global economy away from an emphasis on growth and toward the direct satisfaction of basic human needs for all the Earth's people. Rise and Fall of the Carbon Civilisation is aimed at the many members of the public with an awareness of climate change, but who wish to find out more about how we need to respond to the challenge. It will also be of interest to technical professionals, as well as postgraduate students and researchers, from the environmental and engineering science sectors.

Patrick Moriarty is presently an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Design at Monash University, Australia. For more than three decades he has researched urban transport and urban land-use planning, with emphasis on equity and ecological sustainability issues. More recently, he has become interested in the climate change implications of different fuels/energy sources for both transport and electricity generation. This research is not only future-focussed and interdisciplinary, but also considers problems such as oil depletion and climate change in a global context. For six years in the 1970s, he taught Civil Engineering at Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology in Tanzania, and carried out field research on low-cost housing.Damon Honnery has been involved in energy related research for more than 25 years. He currently leads the energy research group in the laboratory for Turbulence Research in Aerospace and Combustion in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Australia. His major research activities focus on the development and performance of alternative liquid fuels for transport. These activities extend into the broader areas of renewable energy systems and their potential to replace traditional energy sources and mitigate the effects of global warming. Although his focus is primarily technical, he also has a keen interest in policy and policy development, particularly as it relates to energy use and carbon emissions.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Moriarty, Patrick

Honnery, Damon

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Acknowledgments;5
2;Contents;6
3;Abbreviations;10
4;Chapter 1 - The Problems We Face;13
4.1;1.1 Introduction;13
4.2;1.2 Assessment of Technology Is Often Over-optimistic;14
4.3;1.3 An Earth Systems Science Approach Is Needed;16
4.4;1.4 Uncertainty About the Future Is Increasing;17
4.5;1.5 Equity Issues Are Central in a Finite World;19
4.6;1.6 Energy Is Vital for Economies;20
4.7;1.7 Time to Make the Needed Changes Is Limited;21
4.8;1.8 Proposed Solutions Can Often Make Matters Worse;22
4.9;1.9 A New Approach to Economics Is Needed;23
4.10;References;24
5;Chapter 2 - Global Climate Change;26
5.1;2.1 Introduction;26
5.2;2.2 The Science of Global Warming;27
5.2.1;2.2.1 The Science Basics;27
5.2.2;2.2.2 Mathematical Models and the Temperature Record;30
5.2.3;2.2.3 Greenhouse Gases and Their Anthropogenic Sources;32
5.2.4;2.2.4 Learning from the Past;35
5.2.5;2.2.5 The Polar Regions Are Critical;37
5.3;2.3 What Impacts Can We Expect?;38
5.4;2.4 What Should We Do?;40
5.4.1;2.4.1 Mitigation;40
5.4.2;2.4.2 Adaptation;42
5.5;2.5 Climate Change, the Public and Policy-making;43
5.6;2.6 Closing Comments;45
5.7;References;45
6;Chapter 3 - Earth’s Resources Are Finite;48
6.1;3.1 Introduction;48
6.2;3.2 Earth’s Energy Flows;49
6.3;3.3 Fossil Fuels Availability;51
6.4;3.4 Mineral Resource Availability;55
6.5;3.5 Humans in the Biosphere;59
6.5.1;3.5.1 World Population Growth and Food and Water Availability;59
6.5.2;3.5.2 Declining Ecosystem Service Provision;63
6.5.3;3.5.3 Declining Species Diversity;65
6.6;3.6 Living Sustainably in the Anthropocene Epoch;66
6.7;References;66
7;Chapter 4 - Uncertainty in Global Environmental and Resource Problems;70
7.1;4.1 Introduction;70
7.2;4.2 Uncertainty, Prediction and Climate;71
7.2.1;4.2.1 Uncertainty and Prediction: General Considerations;72
7.2.2;4.2.2 Uncertainty in Climate Prediction;73
7.2.3;4.2.3 Effects of Climate Uncertainty;75
7.3;4.3 Uncertainty in Resource Estimates and Availability;76
7.4;4.4 Responses to Uncertainty;78
7.4.1;4.4.1 The Future Is Determined: An IIASA Approach;78
7.4.2;4.4.2 Expert Solicitation and Delphi Analysis;80
7.4.3;4.4.3 Scenario Analysis;81
7.4.4;4.4.4 The Precautionary Principle;82
7.5;4.5 Responding to a New, More Uncertain, Future;83
7.6;References;86
8;Chapter 5 - Renewable Energy: Too Little, Too Late?;89
8.1;5.1 Introduction;89
8.2;5.2 Biomass Energy;90
8.3;5.3 Hydropower;93
8.4;5.4 Geothermal Energy;94
8.5;5.5 Wind Energy;96
8.6;5.6 Solar Energy;100
8.7;5.7 Ocean Energy;103
8.8;5.8 Comparison of RE Sources;105
8.9;5.9 Renewable Energy in the Future;107
8.10;References;108
9;Chapter 6 - Nuclear Energy: The Ultimate Technological Fix?;112
9.1;6.1 Introduction;112
9.2;6.2 Nuclear Energy: History and Forecasts;113
9.3;6.3 The Nuclear Fuel Cycle;115
9.4;6.4 Reactor Design;118
9.5;6.5 Difficulties with Existing Nuclear Power Programs;120
9.5.1;6.5.1 Uranium Resources Are Limited;121
9.5.2;6.5.2 Low Level Radiation;122
9.5.3;6.5.3 Nuclear Accidents and Reactor Safety;123
9.5.4;6.5.4 Natural Hazards;124
9.5.5;6.5.5 Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Sabotage;125
9.6;6.6 Nuclear Power: New Technology for the Long-term?;126
9.6.1;6.6.1 Breeder Reactors;126
9.6.2;6.6.2 Fusion Reactors;128
9.7;6.7 An Uncertain Nuclear Future;130
9.8;References;131
10;Chapter 7 - Engineering for Greater Energy Efficiency;134
10.1;7.1 Introduction;134
10.2;7.2 Defining Efficiency and Its Limits;135
10.3;7.3 Transport;137
10.4;7.4 Buildings and Their Equipment;142
10.5;7.5 Energy Conversion;145
10.6;7.6 Obstacles to Energy Savings from Energy Efficiency;146
10.7;7.7 Energy Efficiency in a Wider Context;149
10.8;References;150
11;Chapter 8 - Getting Rid of Atmospheric Carbon: Sequestration and Air Capture;153
11.1;8.1 Introduction;153
11.2;8.2 Carbon Sequestration in Soils and Forests;154
11.3;8.3 Carbon Sequestration by Ocean Fertilisation;156
11.4;8.4 Carbon Capture from Large Power Plants;157
11.5;8.5 Air Capture;160
11.6;8.6 Geological Carbon Sequestration;162
11.7;8.7 Carbon Sequestration in the Real World;164
11.8;References;167
12;Chapter 9 - Great and Desperate Measures: Geo-engineering;169
12.1;9.1 Introduction;169
12.2;9.2 Global Albedo Decreases;170
12.2.1;9.2.1 Stratospheric Aerosol Placement;171
12.2.2;9.2.2 Other Approaches;172
12.3;9.3 Regional Albedo Decreases;173
12.4;9.4 Unwanted Impacts of Geoengineering;176
12.4.1;9.4.1 Unwanted Climate-related Impacts;176
12.4.2;9.4.2 Ocean Acidification;178
12.5;9.5 The Ethics and Politics of Geoengineering;179
12.6;9.6 Geoengineering: Weighing the Costs and Benefits;182
12.7;References;184
13;Chapter 10 - The New Economy;186
13.1;10.1 Introduction;186
13.2;10.2 The Global Economy and Energy: Past and Present;189
13.3;10.3 What’s Wrong with the Old Economy?;192
13.4;10.4 The Human Needs Approach;194
13.5;10.5 Human Settlements Case Study;196
13.5.1;10.5.1 Is the World Future Urban?;196
13.5.2;10.5.2 Transport in the Transition and Long-term;198
13.5.3;10.5.3 Dwellings;204
13.6;10.6 Toward a Carbon Neutral Civilisation;205
13.7;References;208
14;Chapter 11 - Conclusions;211
14.1;11.1 Introduction;211
14.2;11.2 A Brief Review of the Main Themes;211
14.3;11.3 What if We Continue Our Present Path? (A Look at a World 4 ºC Hotter);214
14.4;11.4 A Just and Ecologically Sustainable Future;216
14.5;References;219
15;Index;220