This blog was originally based on a course ran by Professor Nick Gray of the Trinity Centre for the Environment at Trinity College Dublin who also wrote a textbook for the module Facing up to global warming: What is going on and what you can do about it. Now working as an independent consultant, Nick continues to work in the area of environmental sustainability and looking at ways of making a difference without recriminations or guilt. Saving the planet is all about living sustainably.


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Energy Use: Both Now and in the Future

The process by which energy is produced and the way in which it is consumed has become increasingly important in the recent past. The world has become increasingly more globalised and this has brought with it improvements in technology and an increase in scientific knowledge, among other things. These improvements have resulted in the production of new ways of both producing and consuming energy. It is evident that many goals must be met in the future in order to maintain a sustainable way of producing and consuming energy. Three of the most important goals are to ensure that future energy supplies are clean, to ensure that the supply of energy is secure and to ensure that energy use is carried out more efficiently.

The problems that currently exist in the energy sector must be addressed and solved so that energy can be consumed and produced as a sustainable commodity. The harmful effects that certain types of energy use can have on the environment and the diminishing sources of clean, cheap and reliable energy are two of the main problems that face the energy sector today. People around the world have only just begun to realise these problems. For years, the consumption of energy through fossil fuel use has taken place without any thought given to the impact that this has on the environment. This needs to change. Looking to the future, I am hopeful that continued improvements in technology and further increases in scientific knowledge will help us to tackle the serious problems that currently exist in the energy sector.

Simon Grennan

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