Tackling the challenge of global warming

1. Tackling the challenge of global warming

2. Tackling the challenge Sustainable development strategies- we will look at a range of sustainable strategies available to combat and cope with global warming. These include sustainable development at all levels and green strategies such as renewable energy. Sustainable development = ? Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. P 80-84 BBC Sustainability

3. Sustainable development strategies – Sustainability Quadrant Technology transfer to the poor. Extra climate change related aid to the world’s poorest countries. Conservation of biodiversity. Cleandevelopment mechanisms e.g. renewable energy. Carbon capture and storage Developing eco-friendly & green strategies. Working with nature Providing pro-poor solutions. Increasing equality to help the world’s poorest people. More efficient use of resources. Ensuring resources are conserved for future generations by not overusing them in the present. Providing community-based solutions. Facilitating grass-roots, locally developed initiatives. Climate-proofed, climate friendly schemes. Energy-efficiency measures in transport, industry, building design, recycling and waste management Community-based schemes using appropriate technologies P80 Philip Allan

4. Green strategies

5. Tree planting....a possible solution to global warming?

6. Carbon storehouses Mature forests store enormous quantities of carbon, both in the trees and vegetation itself and within the soil in the form of decaying plant matter. Forests in areas such as the Congo and the Amazon represent some of the world's largest carbon stores on land. But when forests are logged or burnt, that carbon is released into the atmosphere, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and accelerating the rate of climate change. So much carbon is released that they contribute up to one-fifth of global man-made emissions, more than the world's entire transport sector.

7. Deforestation has such a massive effect on climate change that Indonesia and Brazil are now the third and fourth largest emitters of carbon dioxide on the planet. • This dubious honour comes not from industrial or transport emissions, but from deforestation - up to 75 per cent of Brazil's emissions come solely from deforestation - with the majority coming from clearing and burning areas of the Amazon rainforest.

8. Scientists from the Carnegie Institution of Washington used a computer model to determine the impact which forests in different parts of the planet would have on temperature. • Their analysis indicates that three key factors are involved: • forests can cool the planet by absorbing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide during photosynthesis • they can also cool the planet by evaporating water to the atmosphere and increasing cloudiness; a deck of white clouds reflects incoming solar radiation straight back out into space • trees can also have a warming effect because they are dark and absorb a lot of sunlight, holding heat near ground level

9. Their study shows that tropical forests are very beneficial to the climate because they take up carbon and increase cloudiness, which in turn helps cool the planet. • The further you move from the equator, though, these gains are eroded; and the team's modelling predicts that planting more trees in mid- and high-latitude locations could lead to a net warming of a few degrees by the year 2100 . This is because the darkening of the surface by new forest canopies in the high-latitude boreal regions allows absorption of more sunlight that helps to warm the surface. • Also in the first 10 years of a trees growing life a growing tree releases more carbon dioxide than it absorbs! • P 66 Pearson and CD ROM BBC In search of rainforests

10. Synthetic trees Developed by Dr. Klaus Lackner these synthetic trees could be used as CO2 scrubbers cleaning our air. Using a chemical reaction to pull carbon dioxide from the air this technology could buy the world time to development and implement alternative energy sources. http://www.reuters.com/video/2011/04/25/synthetic-trees-capture-carbon?videoId=205618634 http://knowledge.allianz.com/climate/science/?1580/carbon-capture-artificial-trees-suck-co2-from-air

11. Innovation in technology - Cars • A natural gas vehicle or NGV is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas as a clean alternative to other fossil fuels. • Worldwide, there were 14.8 million natural gas vehicles by 2011, led by Iran with 2.86 million, Pakistan (2.85 million), Argentina (2.07 million), Brazil (1.70 million), and India (1.10 million). • The Asia-Pacific region leads the world with 6.8 million NGVs, followed by Latin America with 4.2 million vehicles.[ • As of 2009, the U.S. had a fleet of 114,270 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, mostly buses. • They release less carbon dioxide than both petrol and diesel cars, as the graph on the next slide shows.

12. Honda

14. Hybrid cars

15. Reducing our carbon footprint • Who….industrialists, the automobile industry, homes, families, individuals, us? • How? Your ideas? • P 84 Philip Allan

17. Incandescent bulbs replaced with energy saving bulbsp 68 Pearson

18. Moving away from dependence on fossil fuels….

19. Large scale monumental projects…..like the Three Gorges Dam

20. Three Gorges Dam

24. It is the world’s largest HEP dam and very controversial. • Advantagesof the dam (economic, social and environmental) • HEP needed for China's growing industry and for domestic use too (China uses 40% world power) • It will provide for 2% of China's 1.3 billion peoples’ energy needs and so helps reduce the Chinese carbon emissions • Tourism increased on lake • Improved shipping as larger cargo boats (up to 10,000 tonnes) can travel upstream to Chongqing • New settlements have better services eg water, sewage etc • However, the dam also has disadvantages (economic, social and environmental) • 1.3 million people relocated often without adequate compensation • 4 cities, 8 towns and 356 villages submerged • Temples and sacred places flooded • Factories submerged releasing toxic waste into water • Silt builds up behind dam so does not fertilise fields downstream • Risk of earthquakes cracking dam and causing flooding • 27 billion pounds to build it • Loss of species like the Yangtze river dolphin

25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8311223.stm

26. P 85 Philip Allan • Have a look why it is so important for China (and India) to make changes!

27. Renewable energy generation

28. Reading Wind Turbine in the UK The 85 metre tower and 2MW turbine will be able to generate enough power for 1,000 homes - roughly 2% of Wokingham itself - the company says. BBC News Windpower

29. Wind Power in Greece • Wind Energy Capacity (MW) • 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 • 112 189 272 297 383 473 573 746 871 985 1,087 1,208 • Wind power in Greece was due to expand by 352% by 2010 to meet the European target of 20% coverage of energy needs from renewable sources. Previously, there were 1,028 wind turbines installed throughout Greece and the number was set to reach 2,587 wind turbines before the end of 2010

32. 1 Kw Micro Hydro can produce up to 100 Kw A kilowatt is approximately equivalent to 1.34 horsepower. An electric heater with one heating element might use 1 kilowatt. 40 w light bulb (1000 watts in a Kilowatt). 3 Kw

33. What are biofuels? • Biofuels are any kind of fuel made from living things, or from the waste they produce. • This is a very long and diverse list, including: • wood, wood chippings and straw • pellets or liquids made from wood • biogas (methane) from animals' excrement • ethanol, diesel or other liquid fuels made from processing plant material or waste oil • In recent years, the term "biofuel" has come to mean the last category - ethanol and diesel, made from crops including corn, sugarcane and rapeseed. • Burning the fuels releases carbon dioxide; but growing the plants absorbs a comparable amount of the gas from the atmosphere. However energy is used in farming and processing the crops and this can make biofuel as polluting as petroleum-based fuels. • Brazil leads the world in production and use, making about 16 billion litres per year of ethanol from its sugarcane industry. Sixty percent of new cars can run on a fuel mix which includes 85% ethanol. • A recent UK government publication declared that biofuels reduced emissions "by 50-60% compared to fossil fuels". • What are the downsides? • From the environmental point of the view, the big issue is biodiversity. • With much of the western world's farmland already consisting of identical fields of monocultured crops, the fear is that a major adoption of biofuels will reduce habitat for animals and wild plants still further. • Asian countries may be tempted to replace rainforest with more palm oil plantations, critics say.

35. Renewable energy powerpoint presentations Microhydro Wind Biomass/Biofuel Geothermal Solar Tidal, wave You should include a place where it is being used, why each will help manage climate change and what are the costs and benefits of each! See P 82 Philip Allan

36. Community based green strategies • http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Take-action/Community-projects • P82-83 Philip Allan

37. Further thought…. • Criticisms of climate – friendly technologies p 69 Pearson • Cost of climate - friendly technologies p 69 Pearson • Role of market forces P 70 Pearson

38. Exam practice • p 71 Pearson Q1