{"id":563,"date":"2019-10-11T12:09:37","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T19:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/sdpollutiontrackers\/?p=563"},"modified":"2019-10-11T12:09:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T19:09:37","slug":"is-the-downward-trendline-of-fossil-fuel-consumption-really-going-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/sdpollutiontrackers\/2019\/10\/11\/is-the-downward-trendline-of-fossil-fuel-consumption-really-going-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Downward Trendline of Fossil Fuel Consumption Really Going Down?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all heard about the negative effects fossil-fuel combustion has on the environment. But what does that really mean? Let\u2019s dive into the science behind this claim. Commercial energy <\/em>is a nice way of saying fossil-fuel combustion.<\/p>\n

The Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Commercial energy <\/em>is a nice way of saying fossil-fuel combustion. One of the main fossil-fuel being utilized globally is coal. This fossil fuel is useful in generating steam, electric power production, and factories. Its cheap price tag is very tempting and most developing countries use it to mine and transport. The countries who own most of the world\u2019s coal reserves are the U.S., Russia, China, India and Australia. But what is coal and why is it so dangerous? Coal is graphite carbon that was made by ancient woody plants (Lignin<\/em>) that were covered by water and developed for millions of years under high pressures and temperatures. The term \u201cdirty fuel\u201d has been coined for coal because when burned, coal releases CO2<\/sub>, H2<\/sub>O, SO2<\/sub>, F2<\/sub>, Uranium (radioactive metal), and other heavy metals. These air pollutants are dangerous to human health and the environment. Although some (developed) countries are trying techniques such as dry scrubbing<\/em>to rid of these air pollutants before they are released to the atmosphere, most developing countries are not aware of these techniques and contribute to the growing CO2<\/sub>emissions. Global coal production has more than doubled since the 1980s and have peaked the highest since 2013-14. From the Our World in Data (OWD) graph, we can observe the use of coal is going down, but will it really make a difference?<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/grapher\/coal-production-by-region<\/a><\/p>\n

Taking a look at the next graph provided by OWD, we see countries such China and India has an overall upward trend of coal production. Yes, there are countries like the U.S. and U.K. that has decreased coal production, however countries such as China blankets these effects with its over-consumption.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/grapher\/coal-consumption-by-country-terawatt-hours-twh?country=CHN<\/a><\/p>\n

Rob Jackson, a climate scientist at Stanford University, postulated:<\/p>\n

\u201ctheir [China\u2019s] economy has been slowing a bit\u2026but now the government is trying to boost growth, and they\u2019re [China] green-lighting some coal projects that had been on hold\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the Industrial Revolution, CO2\u00a0<\/sub>atmospheric concentrations has gone up and is correlated to the increase of commercial energy from fossil fuel sources. Fossil fuel sources, when going through combustion, emits CO2\u00a0<\/sub>into the atmosphere, affecting both the environment and the population. It has been predicted CO2\u00a0<\/sub>rates will keep increasing because developing nations are emitting more CO2\u00a0<\/sub>because of\u00a0 industrialization. In 2017 alone, the amount of CO2\u00a0<\/sub>in the air has started to climb back up. China has surpassed the U.S. in CO2\u00a0<\/sub>emissions and there is a steady rise seen with India also.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions<\/a><\/p>\n

The Future<\/strong><\/p>\n

It will be tough to completely take away fossil fuel use from the U.S. specifically. Companies who source in fossil fuels are so entangled in the government that it will be hard to say \u201cno\u201d to their dirty money. For example, Koch Industries, the oil refining and shipping giant, donate millions of dollars to presidential candidates every year and these candidates will continue to support these companies as long as the money is still trickling in. Big fossil fuel companies also fund the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and essentially, fossil fuel money makes up a big chunk of election funds. In order to make a change, we must look into ways to reduce greenhouse gases. Ways such as planting forests, high-speed wind turbines, chemical extractions are some solutions to decrease CO2<\/sub>. More regulation with regards to fossil fuel use must be implemented in order to see a change in the next few years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all heard about the negative effects fossil-fuel combustion has on the environment. But what does that really mean? Let\u2019s dive into the science behind this claim. Commercial energy is a nice way of saying fossil-fuel combustion. The Facts Commercial Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":682,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIs the Downward Trendline of Fossil Fuel Consumption Really Going Down? - San Diego Pollution Trackers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/sdpollutiontrackers\/2019\/10\/11\/is-the-downward-trendline-of-fossil-fuel-consumption-really-going-down\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is the Downward Trendline of Fossil Fuel Consumption Really Going Down? - San Diego Pollution Trackers\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve all heard about the negative effects fossil-fuel combustion has on the environment. 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