Nowadays, the two most popular topics are climate change and generating energy. Generating power and climate change are two topics that have been discussed together by politicians because using fossil fuels has been the main source of income for our economy since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Coal, oil, and gas have the biggest impact on global warming. They are responsible for more than 75% of the global greenhouse gases, and almost 90% of them are carbon dioxide emissions. Most of the power we use is generated by burning fossil fuels. The amount is almost two-thirds. By burning coal, oil, and gas, they evaporate carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. Fossil fuel burning has raised the atmospheric carbon dioxide amount since the start of the Industrial Revolution from 278 ppm (parts per million) to 400 ppm today. The biggest amount of greenhouse gas emissions in America comes from burning fossil fuels for electricity, followed by fossil fuel usage for heat, and lastly, fossil fuels that are used for transportation. Globally, only a little more than a quarter of electricity comes from renewable sources like solar, wind, and biofuels. We still use the energy produced by fossil fuels because it is the cheapest way to do it.

The electricity power sector involves the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The sector primarily emits carbon dioxide, but smaller amounts of methane and nitrous oxide are also released. When it comes to producing electric power, burning coal releases more carbon compared to using natural gas or petroleum. However, even though coal use accounted for 59% of CO2 emissions from the sector, it only generated 23% of the electricity in the United States in 2021. Natural gas accounted for 37% of electricity generation, while petroleum contributed less than 1%. The remaining electricity generation in 2021 came from non-fossil fuel sources, including nuclear power (20%) and renewable energy sources (20%) like hydroelectricity, biomass, wind, and solar. Most of these non-fossil sources, such as nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and solar, do not emit greenhouse gases.

The lack of energy has been a problem in the 21st century. The human population is growing every day. It has reached 8 billion. Most of the people live in cities. Due to the fact that cities use the biggest amount of energy, it is almost 78%. In the 1950s and 1960s, coal, oil, and natural gas resources seemed to be endless, and because of that, they were also very cheap. For example, in America, a gallon of gasoline used to cost only 30 cents, and it was only 7% of the family’s monthly income. Now it is around 3,70 USD. Most of the electricity is produced by burning coal, and the price of coal hasn’t changed that much. One ton of coal used to cost in America in the 1960s around 26 dollars; in 2011, one ton of coal cost about 32 dollars.

In conclusion, we have to start learning how to produce more renewable energy, but with renewable energy, there are also some parts where we have to develop their production. For example, what should you do with the solar panels if they don’t work any more? Since the human population is growing every day, we have to come up quickly with better solutions because every day we need even more energy. Nowadays, we use four times more energy than at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. In order to reduce the human carbon footprint, change needs to happen in each individual and in society as a whole. Luckily, the greenhouse gas emissions that come from generating electricity have decreased by almost 15% since the 1990s because we are slowly moving towards lower- and non-emitting ways to produce electricity. The shift has also happened because fossil fuel stocks are running low.

Sources:
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/energy-and-climate-change
https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_gas_price
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128096659105154
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/climate-solutions/cities-pollution