Abstract
Under the present circumstances of global warming, two actions are urgently required. One is to reduce the emission from greenhouse gases, and the other is to encourage climate engineering efforts such as carbon capture and storage and solar radiation management. GHG reduction must be done at all cost by all nations, whereas climate engineering technology can be introduced by rich countries at the earliest. Energy efficiency is one of the major energy-related threats being faced in most of the countries. The International Energy Agency estimates that in order to meet the energy efficiency target for 2050, the global spending has to increase from the current level of 300 billion USD per year to 680 billion USD. A business-as-usual scenario suggests that USA and European Union would reduce oil and coal consumption to improve energy efficiency by 2050. However, China and India, the two most populous nations will continue to rely heavily on coal and oil in near future and will not be able to transit to renewable source to the expected level. Like it or not, we will have to explore all possibilities of switching over to a combination of source from renewable energy basket including opting for draft animal power.
The total power need of the humans on Earth is approximately 16 terra watts which is expected to grow to 20 terra watts in 2020.
Johnson (2009).
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Srivastav, A. (2019). Reducing Carbon Growth. In: The Science and Impact of Climate Change. Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0809-3_5
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