Renewable Energy as a Sustainable Alternative: A Way Forward
Coal, oil, and natural gas are major conventional energy sources in the world but limited in amount. However, these sources create several environmental and health impacts during energy extraction processes. Coal mining and exploration, transportation, en
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Contents 1 Need of Sustainable Alternative 2 Renewable Energy: A Way Forward References
Abstract Coal, oil, and natural gas are major conventional energy sources in the world but limited in amount. However, these sources create several environmental and health impacts during energy extraction processes. Coal mining and exploration, transportation, energy/electricity generation processes cause negative environmental externalities. Notably, electricity generation from coal alone emits approximately 60% of the global CO2, which has been projected as 36.4 GtCO2 in 2016. This scenario would be more challenging for developing nations to balance the increasing economic and industrial growth along with climate change issue. Therefore, alternative energy resources are recommended for the sustainable modern society to fulfill global energy demand with minimum environmental impacts. Keywords Biomass, Greenhouse gases, Hydropower, Renewable energy, Sustainable energy
P. Pathak (*) Department of Environmental Science, SRM University-AP, Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, India e-mail: [email protected] Pankaj Pathak and Rajiv Ranjan Srivastava (eds.), Alternative Energy Resources: The Way to a Sustainable Modern Society, Hdb Env Chem, DOI 10.1007/698_2020_634, © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. Pathak
1 Need of Sustainable Alternative Conventionally, coal, oil, and natural gas have remained as the major sources of energy, however, carrying severe environmental and health concerns. Firstly, coal and petroleum mining and exploration processes are itself not very eco-friendly and resulting in a wider change in demography and ecology. After the mining exploitation, their usages in the energy/electricity generation process cause negative environmental externalities. Notably, electricity generation via coal-burning power plants (including fugitive emissions from solid fuels, oil, and gas as well) is the highest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) along with other gases such as CO and SOx [1, 2]. This sector alone emits approximately 60% of the global CO2, which has been projected as 36.4 GtCO2 in 2016. Surprisingly, among all means of energy, ~25% of the global GHGs emissions significantly contributed to the electricity generation process. This scenario has come out in a more visible manner in the United Nation’s report for global CO2 emissions with respect to different sectors. The quantification of summary can be depicted from Fig. 1. It shows the contribution of different sectors (such as energy, transportation, buildings, industries, agriculture, and land use) in global emissions of GHGs for a period of recent three decades; whereby, the prime culprit of maximum CO2 emissions is found to be the energy sector. This situation is more complicated to the developing countries, who have a necessity to high energy generation to fulfill their demand for maintaining their industrial and economic growth. It becomes more challenging when the factor of high population density gets clubbed with the energy poverty and a large population o
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