demand in an increasingly important way. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) study, 2.5% of renewable capacity would address a substantial 80% of world energy demand in 20 505 (IPCC 2011). On the demand side, renewables could solve energy protection, fulfil sustainability needs and be environmentally friendly. The evolving relationship between renewable energy production and energy protection has been extensively studied (Valentine 2011), evaluating the evolution of energy security concept and validating symbiosis.
Renewable energy can positively affect the climate and other beneficial social benefits, including expanded opportunities and jobs in education, reduced energy scarcity and gender disparity (Tsai and Chou 2006). Consumption of renewable energy will generate far fewer carbon emissions and harmful environmental contaminants than fossil fuels, a long way towards combating climate change and reducing environmental pollution (Varun et al. 2009; Wang et al. 2014a). Jobs figures in this energy sector grew to 9.8 million in 2016, with most countries opting for the transition to renewable energy resources, a substantial 1.1% rise over 2015 (REN21 2017). Furthermore, since access to modern and advanced energy resources is a road to sustainable growth, distributed renewable energy technologies provide unusual opportunities to alleviate energy insecurity in underdeveloped and rural areas (Wei et al. 2014).
As mentioned in the latest Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD)/International Energy Agency (IEA) book, almost one‐fifth of the world’s total electricity produced comes from renewable sources (OECD/IEA 2004). Renewable energy for power generation: status and prospects ‘emphasises that renewable energy, after oil (34%), coal (28%), nuclear energy (4%) and natural gas (23%) is the second most efficient energy supply around the world’ (Figure 1.1). Renewable energy growth took place from 1973 to 2000 at 9.3% annually and is expected to increase at 10.4% annually in 2010 and beyond. Wind turbines have risen to 52% most rapidly and are bound to increase further, overtake biopower and curb GHGs by developing environmentally friendly technologies (wind, solar and fuel cells). The crucial task is to minimize GHG and renewable energy generation by building broad research and development capacity in environmentally sustainable technologies. Little more than 50% of the world’s land is listed as arid and part of the rural and desert environment with no water and power grids. Here, water pumps based on diesel engines are used to supply borehole water to the inhabitants. In exchange, diesel engines are impaired by maintenance and high running costs, contributing to emissions from the atmosphere. Energy obtained from wind systems can be an acceptable alternative process.
Figure 1.1 World’s primary energy consumption in 2017.
Source: Paul Homewood, https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/bp‐energy‐review‐2017/.
1.4 Climate Change and Energy Crisis
Climate change and climate change policies are two big energy sector contributors. Climate change policies adopted and enforced by different countries already influence planning, development and investment decisions at their locations. The transition from conventional fossil fuels to renewable energies, such as wind, geothermal, bioenergy and hydroelectricity has important implications for the goals of stable, clean and affordable energy, so that organizations and institutions responsible for achieving these goals must come forward and contribute.
The energy sector is highly responsible for climate change and is associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil‐fuel‐based manufacturing plants, particularly power plants. Consequently, the industry’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels requires this sector to be a priority of government remedial policies to regulate and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This could include a rigorous licencing system, strict emission quotas, carbon capture technologies and renewable portfolio standards. The industry is to be blamed for the heavy use of fossil fuels for causing climate change. The process begins with coal, gas and oil combustion, leading to the release of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, resulting in global warming. Even, there has been an ongoing debate on this subject as scientists have long tried to distinguish between human‐induced changes and those that may be attributed to natural climate variability. Since developed nations have the highest emissions levels, they must therefore bear the greatest responsibility for global warming. Furthermore, as a precautionary measure, developing countries must also take measures to mitigate possible emission increases as their economies grow and populations increase, as the Kyoto Protocol clearly emphasizes (United Nations 2001).
Importantly, human activities in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important contributors to future climate change, occur primarily through fossil fuel production. As a result, attempts to regulate CO2 emissions could negatively impact worldwide people’s economic growth, investment, trade, employment and living standards. The energy sector is highly responsible for climate change and is associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil‐fuel‐based manufacturing plants, particularly power plants. Consequently, the industry’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels requires this sector to be a priority of government remedial policies to regulate and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This could include a rigorous licencing system, strict emission quotas, carbon capture technologies and renewable portfolio standards. The industry is to be blamed for the heavy use of fossil fuels for causing climate change. The process begins with coal, gas and oil combustion, leading to the release of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, resulting in global warming. Even, there has been an ongoing debate on this subject as scientists have long tried to distinguish between human‐induced changes and those that may be attributed to natural climate variability. Since developed nations have the highest levels of emissions, they must therefore bear the greatest responsibility for global warming.
1.5 Climate Change
The increase in average global temperatures is the product of climate change. The main contributors to this negative growth are natural disasters, along with human activities that are projected to result in higher average global temperatures (Figure 1.2). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) concluded that climate change has arisen as a result of human activities that have enabled global warming (Myles et al. 2009; Lacis 2012) and the most plausible reason for this is the widespread use of fossil fuels that produce significant greenhouse gas emissions, including methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). In addition, climate change would do substantial harm to the productive system. The individual discussion of the energy and environmental crisis is also not feasible since it is directly related to it.
Figure 1.2 The earth is heating up. Monthly divergence from average temperature calculated for 1980–2015 in selected years.
Source: NASA (2015). Licensed under CC BY ND 3.0.v.
1.5.1 Environmental and Social Consequences of Climate Change
There are a variety of significant consequences of climate change that are environmental, social and economic. These findings would typically be negative, although they may also be beneficial in a few remote circumstances (increase in crop yield). The primary cause of climate change is global warming, with substantial implications for human health and, most importantly, biodiversity. As a result of this, there are some worrying events such as the melting of ice at poles causing ocean levels to increase, the rise in