Carbon Based Energy Sources and the Environment

Environmental Impacts of the Most Common Sources of Energy

Jan 7, 2009

The Effects of Coal on the Environment , Anna Uciechowska

Traditional sources of energy, such as coal, oil and gas have serious consequences for the environment. Energy production and use can have serious environmental impacts.

An increasing world population, coupled with ever decreasing levels of traditional sources of energy has increased the environmental impacts such energy sources have on the planet’s biodiversity and environment. According to “Key World Energy Statistics: 2008”, published by the International Energy Agency, oil provides over 34% of the world’s energy, coal produces 26% and gas pver 20%. Wood, the oldest source of energy constitutes less than 10% of the world’s energy needs.

The Effects of Coal on the Environment

Coal as a source of energy is probably the most environmentally damaging of all the traditional sources of energy.

Coal Power in a Warming World by Barbara Freese et al, published by the Union of Concerned Scientists in October 2008 states that “The underground mining of coal is a dangerous profession, and underground and surface mining are both highly damaging to landscapes, water supplies, and ecosystems”.

The Natural Resources Defense Council paper entitled “Coal in a Changing Climate”, issued in February 2007 claims that “Coal mining—and particularly surface or strip mining—poses one of the most significant threats to terrestrial habitats in the United States.”

Figures from "Key World Energy Statistics: 2008" show that coal is responsible for 42% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

“Coal in a Changing Climate” shows that coal produces large amounts of airborne toxic chemicals, including sulfur dioxide, mercury, nitrous oxides, arsenic and lead.

Environmental Impacts of Oil and Gas

Responsible for over 50% of the planet’s energy, production and use of oil and gas has significant environmental consequences.

In Conflicts over Natural Resources, published by ABC-CLIO in 2007, the author, Jacqueline Vaughan says “There is a considerable amount of research showing that the effects of oil on marine life from offshore exploration and drilling, or on leaks from damaged transport vessels, can be devastating, especially in the short term”.

Onshore oil and gas drilling are also damaging to the environment. The American West at Risk by H. G. Wilshire et al, published by Oxford University Press in 2008 states “The largest aggregate oil spill in U.S. history is not the Exxon Valdez, but 20 million gallons of oil and chemicals that leaked, oozed, or splashed out of wells and pipelines over many years at Unocal Corporation’s Guadalupe Dunes oil field, on California's magnificent southern coast”.

As the reserves of oil and gas become scarcer and the need for energy grows, protected environmental habitats are being targeted in the search for new sources of conventional energy. The Environmental Protection Agency by Robert W. Colin, published by Greenwood Publishing Group in 2006, states that “More than 90 percent of the coastal lands west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have already been opened to drilling, with many documented negative effects on wildlife and habitat”.

According to "Key World Energy Statistics: 2008", oil and gas use causes nearly 60% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Damaging Environmental Effects of Wood as a Fuel

Although wood is one of the minor sources of energy, its use as a fuel can have a detrimental effect on the environment. The “Forests Now Declaration” issued in London in 2007 by the Global Canopy Program states that “If we lose the world’s forests, we lose the fight against climate change”. It further states that “forests sustain the livelihoods of 1.4 billion of the world’s poor, and with no other source of fuel, fodder or income many of them have no choice but to degrade forests to survive”.

It is obvious that traditional carbon based sources of energy have very large environmental impacts in their production and use. Although not as severe as fossil fuels, the environmental impacts from alternative energy sources, such as wind, hydro and biofuels need to be tackled in a responsible manner if the world is to contain the damage being done by mankind’s increasing use of energy.

The copyright of the article Carbon Based Energy Sources and the Environment in Energy Conservation is owned by Laurence O'Sullivan. Permission to republish Carbon Based Energy Sources and the Environment in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.