Energy is needed to carry out life processes in living things, and so is the economy, which fuels functions, repairs, builds, and supports many activities. In this regard, fossil fuels are the world’s main energy source and account for about 80% of the global primary energy consumption.
Fossil fuel is a carbon compound or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth’s crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants, or plankton). This process occurs within geological formations.
After being buried for a long time, decomposing and deforming, fossil fuels become quite essential in powering our lives.
Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, natural gas, bitumen, and heavy oils. Essentially, these are very useful substances needed daily and now require replacement.
How is the world prepared to make such a replacement as smooth as it should without harming anybody? It remains a very big question mark unanswered.
Fossil fuels powered the Industrial Revolution during the 18th century and have facilitated the delivery of many cutting-edge inventions to date. Today, however, they remain an instrumental source of energy regardless of ongoing initiatives to replace them.
Why is it then essential to eliminate the use of fossil fuels?
Most fossil fuels can be burned, produced, or used to heat electricity generators. Gas turbines are also used to produce various energy to run different facilities.
Therefore, the demand has always increased, and extraction intensified.
A good example is fracking, which has led to mining even a tiny deposit in the heart of the earth’s surface. Although this is associated with some local earth tremors and more of them, it is more caused by fracking practices.
The growth of the fossil fuel industry is well acknowledged and will remain a turning point in the Industrial Revolution, and technology at least. There are sciences and suggestions available; the only constraint is time, as we are running against a very limited time.
Instead, the industry is gaining even more support because it is still financially affordable compared to suggested clean energy/ renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, or wave energy.
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Instead, we rely on offsetting schemes to combat emissions and keep business as usual. Investment is still unprecedentedly low, which is next to nothing given the urgency of the transition that requires quick achievement.
The giant per capita consumers of coal, oil and gas in kilowatts per hour are the United States of America, Australia, Germany, Europe, China, the United Kingdom, South Africa, France and India.
These countries have distribution networks of gases in homesteads and industry use. Besides, they use coal-powered plants to generate electricity and other uses; hence, their consumption is extraordinarily greater than that of other nations, particularly developing countries.
The Industrial Revolution benefited all of us; however, there has been an unbalanced use of the opportunities brought by fossil fuels, whereby 400 gigatonnes of carbon are thrown into the air each year, but this portion is mainly from only a few global emitters.
Which sectors or activities contribute significantly? Is it also a fair and equitable emission ratio? Hereunder accounts for some causative pollution agents resulting from the so-called Industrial Revolution.
Energy production accounted for about (38%), forestry (23%), transport (21%), industry (17%) and agriculture (11%) of major emissions contribution globally.
The energy sector contributed significantly to emissions through energy production, including electricity generation, transport, and heating. The share of electricity mixes between coal, gas, and oil is quite large and requires effort to reduce.
Since these are the major sources of carbon dioxide emission, global efforts are highly needed to find alternative energy sources.
Coal, the oldest and yet most used energy source worldwide, remains the dirtiest fuel in terms of its impact on the pollution spectrum. It has also transcended into the health sector, among other sectors.
Most coal is produced in China, India, the United States of America, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, South Africa, Germany, and Poland. These countries account for 90% of the total production worldwide.
Besides coal, oil production, including consumption, is another area where maximum pollution has been recorded and continues to be a challenge in achieving synergies between solutions to transition to clean energy.
While we anticipate that bioethanol can be an option, biomass production is another threat as it triggers methane and related gas emissions in agriculture.
One concern is the efficiency of bioethanol, leaving alone the space for mass production and competition between food production and biomass production.
Together, these create a strong challenge to phasing out oil production and use widely. Will stopping the exploration of existing reserves be possible to save the world from pollution? This is a discussion for another day.
Although oil is not much used in electricity production, its major use is transportation, which covers a wide area in the logistics of different items. It is yet an essential part of the life support system, which is irreplaceable at the least.
Last but not least is gas production and usage, which also contributes towards development but also in the pollution scale. Although not all countries have gas deposits, they use gas for domestic and industrial use.
However, gas is also used to manufacture various products, such as vinyl flooring, carpeting, Aspirin, and artificial limbs. It’s also a key component in the production of ammonia.
The major natural gas producers globally are the United States of America, Russia, Iran, China, Canada, Qatar, Australia, Norway, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria.
What is happening towards phasing out fossil fuels?
There are still increasing trends of fossil fuel use worldwide, although simultaneously, there are efforts to transition to clean energy. The challenge is the pace at which renewable energy use is outpaced by the increasing energy demand; hence, fossil fuel production intensifies subsequently.
After the COVID-19, Russia—Ukraine war, and the following energy crisis struck the world, there have even been efforts to revamp the closed coal production plants.
Some other nations have initiated plans to continue expanding plants and even developing new projects in energy production, mainly through coal and nuclear.
For example, Germany in 2022 made the painful but necessary move of operating coal-powered plants to subsidise the cut-off from Russia’s supplies.
Coal use in the USA under the Biden administration has experienced an increasing shift, surpassing Trump’s tenures, and hence, an uncertain future for closing coal-powered plants is projected.
In another vein, oil-producing nations claim that it is not fair to rip off all the fossil fuel production, at least for their country’s economy.
This also holds some weight as their economies are absolutely dependent on fossil fuels. If they stop production, it means stopping the lives of millions of people.
So, renewable energy comes in as a puzzle, and no amicable idea has yet to be floated. Renewable energy is a deal but not exclusive and provides no long-term solution, at least for fossil fuel producers.
Worldwide, there is endless contemplation on how to synergize circumstances to resolve the conflicting stands in energy demand and sustainable sources.
In Tanzania, the existing coal is celebrated as a turning point for powering the infant industrial base. The country is working hard to boost coal production to strengthen economic development.
Among others, the coal is used in local cement production ´factories while a small portion is exported to China, Kenya, Netherlands, India, Senegal and Egypt.
This is seen as a big booster for the economic transformation, while there is also a global race to transition to clean energy sources. This is another conflicting scenario, although it is a good evil compared to using firewood, which is extraordinarily evil and unfriendly to users.
The transition is an essential step towards clean and safe energy. The challenge is the unbalanced nature of the economic pathways each country must undertake.
Those countries that spearheaded the Industrial Revolution have achieved economic power and freedom; hence, they have economic independence, including technology.
Another group of underdeveloped economies is still enclosed in the vicious cycle, including technology and economic powerlessness. This unbalanced equation needs to be resolved to cultivate a standardized racing ground for climate actions.
Each group’s contribution should be accounted for, and where necessary, the Polluter Pays Principle should be applied, whereby each will pay the equivalent of their pollution contribution. Short of that, the world is far from realising the rip-off of fossil fuel usage.
