Over the past three decades, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have been a central focus of global environmental discussions. The issue of increasing CO2 emissions, largely attributed to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and industrial processes, has gained heightened attention due to its significant implications for climate change.
The last 30 years have witnessed a steady rise in global CO2 emissions, driven by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and an escalating demand for energy. As nations grapple with the challenges of mitigating climate change, understanding the patterns and drivers of CO2 emissions over this period becomes crucial for formulating effective strategies to address and curb the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on our planet’s climate system.
The bar chart shows that Saudi Arabia is the most CO2 emitting country among the gulf countries. This is due to being an oil producing country, thus the rely on fossil fuel is massive.
As shown in the bar chart, the main energy source in Saudi Arabia is oil and natural gas with zero reliance on renewable sources.
The sector that is using the most energy is the electricity and heat with around 50% of total fuel consumption.
Reducing CO2 emissions in the electricity and heat sector involves implementing a combination of energy-efficient practices, transitioning to cleaner energy sources, and adopting sustainable technologies. Here are several strategies to achieve this:
1.Transition to Renewable Energy: Invest in and promote the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal for electricity generation and heating.
2.Energy Efficiency Measures: Implement energy efficiency programs and technologies in power plants and heating systems to optimize energy use and reduce waste.
3.Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Systems: Implement CHP systems, also known as cogeneration, which simultaneously produce electricity and useful heat from the same energy source, improving overall efficiency.
4.Upgrade and Retrofit Power Plants: Upgrade existing power plants to more efficient and cleaner technologies. Consider retrofitting with advanced technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS) to capture and store CO2 emissions.
5.Smart Grids and Demand Response: Implement smart grids to optimize electricity distribution and incorporate demand response systems to manage energy consumption during peak times.
“Most air pollution comes from energy use and production,” says John Walke, director of the Clean Air Project which is part of the Climate and Clean Energy program at the National Resources Defense Council. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that each year, air pollution is the major cause of the death of nearly seven million people on Earth. Air pollution has several causes such as:
Burning fossil fuels
Industrial emissions
Wildfires
CO2 and other greenhouse gases emissions
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, it is estimated that deaths due to the devastated air quality will continue to rise till 2100 and the economic value of the health benefits was estimated to be between $50 and $380 for each ton of carbon dioxide emitted.
Ever since the industrial revolution, there was an outbreak of industries in all fields ranging from mechanical production to electrical to technical. All these productions relied mostly on heavy machinery that in fact, combusted energy sources (such as fuel, oil, diesel…) and in a complex series of chemical reactions, released gases. One of those gases is Carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 by itself is not bad because it is a needed chemical in nature. However, CO2 levels in the air have been increasing drastically to the point that they have become one of the major sources in air pollution, according to MDPI.
Carbon Dioxide from electricity production:
According to the World Nuclear Association, almost 40% of the energy-related CO2 emissions are due to burning of the fossil fuels for electricity production. Because a huge part of electricity production depends on burning fuels, there will be a mass of CO2 emitted to the air. This in turn leads to high CO2 emissions, especially from the countries that depend completely on burning fuels to produce electricity. The visuals below demonstrate and prove that the regions that had the highest CO2 emissions from electricity and heat production in 2014 tended to have the highest air pollution rates. The Carbon dioxide emission rates were highest in the middle east, east Africa and east Asia compared to the low numbers of North America and Europe. The same former countries had the highest air pollution rates (PM2.5) compared to the latter. Therefore, we can conclude that the higher the dependency on fuel combustion for energy production, the higher the CO2 emission rates, the higher the air pollution rates. On the long run, this can have devastating effects on the nature, climate and humans.
What can be done?
After governments realized the devastating effects of the gaseous emissions on the air quality and on humans in general, several attempts were done, such as awareness programs among the youth, restrictive laws and advertising. However, these attempts tackled the tip of the iceberg of the problem. A solution is needed to solve the problem deep from within the roots, to prevent it from happening in the first place. Producing energy from renewables could be a potential solution. The most common renewable power technologies are through Solar, wind, biogas, geothermal, low-impact hydroelectricity and biomass. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, generating energy from renewable sources reduces air pollution, diversifies energy supply and creates economic development.
To reduce the gaseous emissions and air pollution, several countries tried to develop their technological and scientific knowledge of renewable energy production as saw a promise in using renewables, that could one day, be substituted for fuel combustion to produce energy. In fact, developed countries such as USA and the EU countries took serious initiatives to use renewable energy production. The below figures show that countries that increased their electrical energy production from renewable sources over the time period of 2005-2014 had the least air pollution rates in 2014. The EU countries and North America had the highest dependency on using renewables to produce electricity compared to the middle east, east Africa and east Asia and the former regions in turn had air pollution rates that are much lower.
Renewable energy production, therefore, is a clean energy source that can reduce Carbon dioxide emissions and in turn lead to a better, sustainable and a healthy planet that has a rich and high air quality.
Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. It is both the easiest and the most challenging issue we have ever faced. The easiest because we know what we must do. The hardest because our current economics are still totally dependent on burning fossil fuels, thereby destroying ecosystems to create everlasting economic growth.
Although there are still some countries like Africa doesn’t have total access to electricity.
Over the years, electricity consumption has increased tremendously.
So did the usage of renewable resources has also increased, but not enough compared to non-renewable resources.
It has been 10 years since top voice influencers and climate justice activists, United States presidents, and tech enthusiast CEOs were trying to fight climate change. It is known that the key to tackling the climate change crisis is to end our reliance on non-renewable energy. So, what if we try to use renewable energy for electricity? Can this reduce climate change? Can it avoid using CO2 Emissions, fuel, oil, and gas? We studied and visualized data of countries that used renewable energy and how it affected their environmental pollution compared to others that used non-renewable energy like fuel, oil, and gas. We found that developed countries that were using renewable energy had less ecological pollution by 70% approximately than countries that weren’t using renewable energy.
This descriptive statistical measure demonstrates the huge success of the use of renewable sources of energy to reduce pollution and diminish climate change. Remember there is no planet B. We live in one mother earth; we must protect it.
It is proven that the use of renewable sources of energy decreases the amount of pollution which reduces climate change and, because of this we recommend that the countries should make use of their hydropower, ocean power, wind, and solar energy for electricity and minimize the use of non-renewable energy.
Greta Thunberg is a well-known Swedish climate change activist. She held a sign saying “School Strike for Climate”, to pressure the government to meet carbon emissions targets.Her small campaign had a global effect, inspiring thousands of young people across the world to organise their own strikes. In 2019, Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic on a yacht to attend a UN climate conference in New York.
Delivering what is probably her most famous speech, she angrily told world leaders they were not doing enough. “You all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,” she said. Greta’s speech inspired me to harness the power of data to achieve the sustain development goal number 12 which is ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns.
After analyzing the data from world development indicators, countries having high access to electricty depends more on non- renewable resources, that have a high footprint on global climate change. On the other hand, according to the map, countries that have high access to electricity showed that they don’t depend on renewable energy resources for electric consumption. That’s why United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change should urge countries with high access to electricity to depend more on renewable energy resources for electric consumption.
Also, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change should address the problem of high dependency on non- renewable energy resources in the next international climate change summit that is held in UN headquarters in New York. In a nutshel, countries should consider producing and consuming electricty from renwable energy resources to combat climate change.
