Energy use and its impact on the environment are among the most important technical, social and public policy issues that face humankind today. The debate about whether climate change is real has gone on too long and the time has come to develop practical solutions. This month world leaders will gather in Copenhagen to try to formulate a new international climate change treaty to replace the failed Kyoto agreement. Whatever the result of these deliberations, the world knows that urgent action is required in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if we are to keep global temperature increases within manageable limits. Even if strict greenhouse gas targets are agreed upon in Copenhagen by the world community, without strong leadership to develop new and imaginative policies in each country the agreement is doomed to failure, just like Kyoto. In this essay I try to outline some of the real world solutions that can be used to lead us to a more sustainable future.
With...
Robert Evans is the author of Fueling Our Future: An Introduction to Sustainable Energy, published by Cambridge University Press in 2007 and short-listed for the 2008 Donner Prize. He is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of British Columbia.
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