'Fossil fuels should be phased out by 2100 says IPCC'
This very dramatic headline sets out what the latest IPCC report says. Read the BBC article to get an overview of what the IPCC is saying.
If you open the main report it sets out a lot more detail the detail behind the headline.
What do you think; is getting rid of fossil fuels the way to go?
I think it's the way to go because the article states that if we continue to use fossil fuels then "the world faces severe, pervasive and irreversible damage." A target acknowledged in 2009, where 2C is the threshold of "dangerous climate change", will be met only if fossil fuel usage is reduced and renewable energy grows by 50% of the total power share. If fossil fuels are used continually then this threshold will most likely be met, which means climate change will be reaching dangerous levels. This is also why carbon capture is extremely important in reducing carbon emissions and the article says the carbon capture must be used in it's entirety by 2100. It would also be economically beneficial to reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase the use of renewable energy which further reinstates my opinion that getting rid of fossil fuels is the way to go
ReplyDeleteWhat about plastic? this is produced from oil; is there a viable alternative yet?
DeleteI think that the IPCC are right and that we do need to gradually stop our use of fossil fuels, not only because they are leading factors to climate change but also because they are running out as it is and we are destroying more land and sea beds to extract them. There are now plenty of renewable ways of getting electricity like wind turbines and solar panels e.t.c. so rather than putting money into extracting fossil fuels governments should be investing more in renewable sources. It will cost a lot more to fix the damage done by climate change as a result of fossil fuel burning than it will to reduce use now.
ReplyDeleteGiven current levels of technology is there enough energy produced from renewables to meet our current , let alone our future needs?
DeleteTechnology is always developing and with things such as solar tiles that are being introduced in countries such as Italy then I think we can progress to update the existing as technology improves.
DeleteI feel that reducing fossil fuels is the way forward however at the moment I don’t think it is feasible. The IPCC say that we should increase the energy sourced from renewables by 80% by 2050. To install one wind turbine costs 20,000 pounds and then it needs maintenance. I feel to meet the 80% the IPCC should look into finding a less expensive way to gain the renewable energy. Once they have done that renewable energy is the way forward as we can't fix the damage we have already done to the climate due to fossil fuels but we can stop or reduce damaging the climate further.
ReplyDeleteWhat about carbon capture, would this not go some way to reducing the 'damage' we have done to the climate? Does not Nature always find a way to fix our messes, after all if climate change kills off a large proportion of the worlds population is that not natures way of solving the problem?
DeleteI think that reducing the global fossil fuel usage is quite clearly the way to go and we have known that for years; however the target of going from getting 30% of our energy from renewable energy sources today, to 80% in 2050 is a huge and very hard to achieve target. As Laura said, each wind turbine costs £20,000 + maintenance, and other renewable energy sources also cost a lot of money. If we want to hit the 80% target then countries are going to have to invest much more money into renewable energy sources than they do today, or they need to invent an alternative, more efficient way of getting renewable energy.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see that you are reading other people opinions prior to writing your comments. A quick question; how much change in your life would you accept to make these changes; what are you willing to do?
DeleteI agree with the views of the others. I think that our use fossil fuels should be gradually decreased and we should find alternative methods to ensure that we do not again become dependent on one source of energy. This can include the different variants of green energy such as wind, tidal, hydroelectric and solar power. In terms of transportation Hydrogen could also be a viable option if we can find an effective way to store and use it. As well as these reasons we should also clearly stop it because of the increasing damage we are causing to the environment and the greater lengths we are going to harnessing the depleting amount of fossil fuels which are again causing harm to the environment. Although before we become no longer dependent on fossil fuels we need to ensure we have sustainable alternatives that are both economically viable and efficient.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we definitely need to cut down in the amount of fossil fuels that we use, or at the very least the way in which we use them, however many people have stated that if we keep on using fossil fuels at the rate we are now then soon they will run out anyway. Also, it's not practical at all as we use them in everything and we would instead have to create new ways to complete daily tasks, such as cars and electricity generation and although developments into these have been made they could still have harmful long term effects which could be worse than what the CO2 emissions are causing now. Even if we use electric cars on a much larger scale, you would still have to create the electricity from somewhere which could potentially have the same effects.
ReplyDeleteI think that reducing the amount of fossil fuels burnt is a very difficult matter, I also believe that phasing fossil fuels out completely will be near impossible. Renewable energy such as wind turbines requires the use of fossil fuels, whether it is in the manufacturing of the product or in the transport used to assemble the turbine. Electric transport is also a false hope, the electricity has to come from somewhere and if the majority of the population uses electric transport then the power needed would be massive, too much to produced by unreliable renewable energy. The IPCC needs to shift the focus off of phasing out the use of fossil fuels and onto carbon capture, which focuses on ways of reducing the effect of carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels.
ReplyDeleteHello my name is Joe, yes