It may not seem like it after the cold snap that gripped Europe for much of the Christmas and New Year period, but the Earth is getting warmer. Some of this is down to natural causes, but we humans are becoming increasingly culpable. We are changing the composition of the planet's atmosphere through our use of greenhouse gasses like C02, which absorb much more infra-red radiation than is natural and then emit it as heat. The spectre of man-made and rapid climate change is now real, researchers say. So what are we going to do about it? This month's comment:visions looks at some of the possible answers that were raised at the recent climate change conference in Copenhagen.
One sector that is expected to grow exponentially is Carbon Capture and Storage. Jeff Chapman of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association explains how this process is already in use and how it could be put to even more effective use in the future. He says: "There are four major projects in the world that have been created solely for the purpose of storing CO2. One is in the centre of the North Sea, this is the oldest project which has been operating for thirteen years and has been injecting a million tonnes a year into a saline formation. The International Energy Agency has published a report suggesting that we need 3,400 projects by 2050. That will save 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions by that time."
Adel El Gammal of the European PhotoVoltaic Industry Association is a champion of a solar solution, believing that the sun's energy can partly replace fossil fuel-generated energy. "We are convinced that photovoltaic is a key part of the global solution to increasing energy demand," Adel tells us. "It is one of the only renewables that can integrate seamlessly in dense urban environments and this is important when you know that more than 50% of the world population is living in cities and cities are the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. We believe that by 2020 PV will become competitive for 55% to 75% of the electricity market in Europe. It will be hugely competitive by the next decade."
Meanwhile, Jeremy Legget, Chairman of Solarcentury, the UK's leading solar energy company, believes businesses can aid in the solution - with backing from their governments. He adds: "Really, there's an inevitability about what we call a clean tech revolution. The question is can it come fast enough to deal with global warming. That's where the governments come in. If they really lead, if they can put in place policies to match their rhetoric on this subject, most of the business world can deliver the changes that are necessary."
The Copenhagen Climate Change conference may not have delivered the result that many were hoping for, but it did show that a revolution is waiting in the wings. That engine of change - human enterprise - is ready to deliver.
