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Oil, Gas and Coal

The document discusses global warming and its causes. It states that scientific consensus is that global warming is primarily due to human activities like burning fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. When carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere as CO2, it causes the average global temperature to rise. The sinks that normally absorb CO2, like oceans and land, are no longer able to keep up with rising emissions from sources like burning oil, gas, and coal. Even with aggressive mitigation measures, the world will experience significantly higher temperatures over the next century due to past emissions and delays in implementing solutions. Proper climate solutions can help stabilize temperatures while transitioning to more renewable energy sources as fossil fuels are depleted.

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40 views3 pages

Oil, Gas and Coal

The document discusses global warming and its causes. It states that scientific consensus is that global warming is primarily due to human activities like burning fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. When carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere as CO2, it causes the average global temperature to rise. The sinks that normally absorb CO2, like oceans and land, are no longer able to keep up with rising emissions from sources like burning oil, gas, and coal. Even with aggressive mitigation measures, the world will experience significantly higher temperatures over the next century due to past emissions and delays in implementing solutions. Proper climate solutions can help stabilize temperatures while transitioning to more renewable energy sources as fossil fuels are depleted.

Uploaded by

chitra_shrestha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Its a fact that our world is warming.

Scientific consensus:
Global warming is primarily induced by human activities,
principally because of greenhouse gas emissions from
combustion of fossil fuels.
Increased greenhouse gas emissions will result in
increased average global temperatures
CO2emissions and global warming
Mitigation of CO2emissions using stabilization wedges
100 year emissions / mitigation scenarios

Projected resource depletion curves for Oil, Gas, Coal


Projected CO2emissions
Projected atmospheric CO2concentrations
Wedge mitigation scenarios
Per capita impacts

Carbon emissions (measured in GtC / yr) add to the amount of


CO2in the atmosphere (ppm), which then cause mean global
temperature to rise. 1 GtC is a giga-tonne of carbon or a billion
metric tons.
An atmospheric concentration of 500 ppm of CO2leads to a
projected 3C (1)increase in mean global temperature
(temperature models are evolving).
Scientists often relate CO2concentrations to pre-industrial
emissions (280ppm) via a simple multiplier (e.g. 2x or 3x preindustrial concentrations).
Sources emit CO2; Sinks absorb CO2
Historically the sinks have been able to balance the sources.
Principal anthropogenic sources are emissions from burning of
oil, gas and coal.

Natural sinks (ocean & land)


Currently remove about 35% of anthropogenic carbon
emissions
Ocean: 2 GtC per year
Land: 0.5 GtC per year
Combined 2.5 GtC/yr
Modeling future ocean & land sink rates is a research
challenge and affects calculations concerning atmospheric
CO2concentrations -uncertainty in these models is high.
Even with aggressive mitigation measures, the world will be
significantly warmer over the next 100-200 years
To mitigate climate change, the world will have to cope
with significantly less total available energy over the
next 100 years, with a peak in roughly 25 years followed by a
sharp drop in available energy.
Energy services per capita also faces a significant drop after
the energy peak
The coming peaks in oil and gas production will make it
somewhat easier to mitigate climate change since there is less
carbon to offset.
Appropriate actions can both mitigate climate change and
replace obsolete energy sources with new renewable sources.
Wedge implementation
Implementation of wedges can accomplish:
A replacement for fossil energy sources that will be mostly
depleted within 100 year (oil and gas) and 200 year (coal)
ranges.
Climate stabilization
A far more efficient energy infrastructure that can serve as the
foundation for future innovations.

Delays in wedge implementation cause a higher peak in


atmospheric CO2. The longer the delay, the worst the penalty.

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