By; Ibraheem Kolawole  |
| Image credit: glogster |
Sustainability itself is a bit of complex term to define, it seems to be the fashionable word this days, used mostly by business moguls, politicians and decision makers. With varied definitions attributed to it, the general and commonly referenced definition is, "the ability to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generation to meet theirs", commonly known as the
Brundtland report. This report hinges on mans intense utilization of finite natural resources around him while also consequently causing harm to his immediate environment without remorse.
Energy is a very serious and sensitive subject on national scene of industrialized and industrializing countries (industrialized countries here can be referred to as Western countries while industrializing mostly Asian countries), as the economic output per capita (GDP) of these countries are closely tied to energy utilized. However the world's predominant energy source come from fossil energy which apparently has been speculated numerous times to run out in couple of decades, while exhaustibility is one issue facing fossil energy, another major concern is the environmental impact it poses inform of particulates, climate change and global warming, which really is a thing to be worried about, as this effects are already manifesting at various places around the world. While other energy sources such as Nuclear Energy and Renewable Energy have been in the mix (constitutes part of energy supplied to grid, fuel et. al), fossil energy still dominates to a large extent, in fact in world energy mix, fossil energy contributes more than 80% year in year out, a major contributing factor to this is that, the energy systems of the world have been built in advantages way around fossil fuels obtained from fossil energy sources and economic activities and wealth of western/industrialized economies triumphed on this energy source which hence, served as a model for other industrializing and developing economies today.
Coal for instance magnified the wealth and empire of western world instigated by industrial revolution in early 19th century, a model which Asian countries particularly China are currently pursuing but with more efficient and technologically advanced plants, coal stopped being the predominant energy source in western world for industrial purposes although it is still utilized in electricity generation due to its dirty burning nature and health hazards attributes. Discovery of oil with the invention of internal combustion engine led to a shift from predominant coal utilization to oil which was a cleaner burning fuel, internal combustion engines are engines found in vehicles, generating plants, industrial power plants, and so on, what it does is to simply burn (combustion) and convert chemical energy in the fuel to other forms of energy services required. The release of carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur and particulates from this combustion process is the bone of contention regarding associated environmental impact, while other impacts attributed to extraction process mostly entail spillage and in rare case scenario rig explosion, the impact of these is accumulated over a period of time in some instance while in others it is felt instantly and prolonged for decades. This has prompted environmentalist and environmental ecologists to revolt against fossil energy systems as it is termed unsustainable, however, advocating for other energy systems such as nuclear and renewables has its own set backs and environmental impacts, not to mention the embodied energy in most with pay backs both in monetary terms and emissions amounting to years before evening out. Nothing has been mentioned of natural gas in this post, this is the cleanest burning fossil fuel and also the most expensive, both to explore and convert to other energy forms with comparatively lower emissions to coal and oil.
While issues relating to dominance of fossil energy in the global energy mix shall be revisited to justify if it is indeed unsustainable as it is being demonized to be by advocates of other/alternate energy sources or if in fact it can be made sustainable by minimizing its environmental effects through improved technological means to the barest minimum and prolonging its reserve and resource availability through other technological means like the shale boom currently taking place in the U.S, how economically viable it will be in the international markets shall be analyzed in subsequent posts. However one thing to ponder about is, whether or not economics plays a big factor in determining the composition of world energy mix, as fossil fuel is pretty much susceptible to price volatility in the international market, but it is a readily cheap available energy source said to currently be at its peak production era, it has built wealth and economic empires for nations as Henry Ford once said, “Our civilization-such as it is-rests on cheap and convenient power”....To be Continued
(Ibraheem Kolawole BEng is a Civil Engineer, a Part-time Blogger and an Energy and Industrial Sustainability MSc candidate at De-Montfort University)
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Interesting read, I guess this will spark up a debate soon by those supporting renewable energy. I am interested in what subsequent post will look like though
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