How Industries Contribute to Climate Change Crisis - Report Example

Climate Change Name Student Number Institution Course Code Instructor Date Introduction Advancement in technology has resulted to increased pollution resulting from the high production of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The increased carbon emission into the atmosphere has impacted negatively on the environment causing drastic climatic changes. The aspect of climate change involves alterations observed in the long-term weather patterns (Learner 2009). Further, it can be termed as the change in the average weather conditions over a long period of time. With the negative implications associated with climatic changes, there is the need for concerted efforts from the governments and other stakeholders in the environment sector to curb drastic climatic changes. Further, reduction in the usage of fossil fuels which greatly contribute to the production of GHGs is inevitable. This assessment critically looks into effective initiatives to address the aspect of climate change with respect to addressing the contributions of industries in the global climatic changes. The study will also look into carbon taxes initiatives, its advantages and disadvantages with respect to realizing clean energy utilization. How Industries Contributes to Climate Change Crisis Since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the 18th century, there has been an increase in greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere (Meyer 2000). The contribution of industrialization in the climatic changes has been documented for long durations and measures initiated to curb the changes. Before the industrial revolution, greenhouse effect was a natural process in which the gases trapped some of the sun’s rays within the atmosphere. The increase in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide is due to emission by a majority of industries in different parts of the world utilizing fossil fuel as the source of energy (Lovell 2010). The result is increased heat trapping by GHGs in the atmosphere; causing increased global warming. The global warming process occurs due to infrared radiation where sunlight is trapped by these gases and not reflected back to the atmosphere (Lerner 2009). Among the greenhouse gases produced by industries are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. In the event these gases absorb energy, they slow or prevent the loss of heat to the atmosphere making the earth warmer than normal. According to Malik (2008), the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have increased by almost 40% due to emissions by industries. Greenhouse gases emitted by industrial production are either direct which are produced at the facility or indirect emissions which occur away from the site, but are still related and involved in industrial productions. There is a need for changes in respect to how industries operate and carry out their production processes. Policies and strategic measures should be put in place to curb climatic changes caused by GHGs emissions from industries which lead to rise in average surface temperatures. The most common cause of climate change is burning of fossil fuels, which bring about drastic changes in climatic conditions experienced in severe weather conditions like droughts and floods, changes in solar radiation as well as a change of the ecosystem (Lerner 2009). Thus, alternative sources of energy which are termed as clean energy sources due to their lack of GHGs need to be introduced. Other human activities that cause climate change include deforestation, agricultural practices and urbanization change reflectivity of the earth’s surface. All these factors disrupt the atmospheric balance that keeps the climate stable and normal to support life and thus the need to rectify to ensure climatic change is curbed. A Plan on How the Industry Will Contribute To the Solution to Climate Change The active participation of industries in the curbing of climatic changes is inevitable. Through creation of procedures and measures aimed at reducing the negative effects of climate changes caused by industrial practices, industries can play a critical role in mitigating negative climatic changes. Industries can play a big role in reducing the emission of GHGs in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide which has the highest percentage of effect. This study proposes the following strategic plan for effective management of climatic changes and curbing the negative effects of global warming caused by industries they include: employing energy efficiency and conservation practices, use of carbon-free or low-carbon emission fuels and trapping of carbon dioxide releases from industries through the use of carbon capture and sequestration. The first step in the industrial sector ought to embrace energy efficiency strategies and conservation practices to reduce wastage. Energy efficiency and conservation practices will reduce the amount of energy used in running the industry as well as ensure full combustion of fuels (Lovell 2010). Complete combustion of fuels contributes to reducing the level of carbon emitted to the atmosphere as a by-product. The major setback with this plan is that the process of adapting or changing to energy saving systems is costly and expensive hence not affordable by most industries hence they opt to use the old system. Nevertheless, the initial cost may be enormous, but the latter benefits are sustainable to the industrial sector, as well as in the climate change mitigation measures. The second measure involves inclusion of green energy to the industries and deviate from increased use of fossil fuel. The utilization of low-carbon fuel sources of energy that are free from carbon, for example solar power, wind power, geothermal power, hydroelectric power (HEP) and nuclear power to run industry will also reduce GHGs emissions (Lovell 2010). The main goal of utilization carbon-free power is to ensure energy efficiency in the manufacturing practices within the industrial sector as well as ensure mitigating climatic changes. The methods will lead to a reduction in cost of energy, reduction of air pollutants like small particulate matter and preserve the finite natural resources (Thornton 2007). Low carbon fuel reduces carbon intensity since most of them are clean sources such as, natural gas. Low carbon fuel is a mix of command and control regulation, as well as emission trading where fuel producer chooses methods for use to reduce emission like purchasing and blending more low-carbon gasoline products that will be used to run their industries. Subsequently, through diversification and selling of low carbon fuels and hydrogen for use by industries: these measures will lead to the reduction of GHG emission (Lerner 2009). The major setback with low-carbon fuels is that they are expensive compared to fossil fuel which provide more than 95% of the fuel needed to run an industry. But a number of technologically feasible fuels like electricity, hydrogen and bio-fuel are in the market. Nevertheless, the future market for these fuels is uncertain as well as the new low-carbon fuels that will emerge (Meyer 2000). The cost effectiveness of low-carbon fuels as a way to reduce GHG emission is the use of corn-based fuel which has low carbon content. Increased switching to bio-fuel will also play a critical part in the overall realization of clean energy use in the industrial sector. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can also be reduced by carbon capture and sequestration. The process involves capturing and storing carbon dioxide that could have otherwise been emitted into the atmosphere and in turn it is placed in suitable underground formations for storage (Thornton 2007). The stored carbon dioxide can later be utilized in industrial processes where carbon dioxide is needed like in preservation processes. According to Lovell (2010), energy from fossil sources produced by industries like cement, iron, paper and pulp produce carbon dioxide as a by-product. It occurs in the following steps: pre-combustion capture which converts it to a gaseous mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide (Thornton 2007). The hydrogen is then separated and can be burned without producing any carbon dioxide, and the carbon dioxide is compressed for transport and storage. Post-combustion process separate carbon dioxide from combustion exhaust gases the carbon dioxide is captured using a liquid solvent or other method used for separation once it has been absorbed by the solvent; it is then released by heating to form high purity carbon dioxide stream (Lovell 2010). Another process involves oxy-fuel combustion capture, which is the process where fossil fuel is burnt in oxygen to produce a gas mixture of steam and carbon dioxide. The mixtures are then separated by cooling and compressing of the gas stream. The amount of carbon dioxide is greatly concentrated hence avoiding the use of nitrogen in the combustion chamber, making it easier to capture and compress (Thornton 2007). Oxy-fuel combustion prevents approximately 90% of the emission from entering the atmosphere. After carbon dioxide is captured, it is compressed and transported by either pipeline or tankers to underground permanent storage sites. The process is known as sequestration, and the sites include geologic formations of oil and gas fields, deep coal sites or saline formations (Thornton 2007). Some of the challenges facing carbon capture are the cost involved in the whole process, verifying that sufficient storage capacity exists and developing best practices for the lifecycle of the project from selection of site through to closure and post-closure monitoring. Implementation of carbon capture and storage can be implemented when only part of emissions that is partial capture compared to fully capture (Meyer 2000). This is because it will be easier to implement technologically, hence result to lower risks, and it can also preserve efficiency. Carbon Tax and Nuclear Energy in Climate Change Mitigation Carbon tax involves taxation that is levied according to carbon content released by industries; it is a form of carbon pricing policy (Thornton 2007). This is a government policy on climate change where polluters pay a price according to a ton of carbon they release into the atmosphere. The policy initiative is considered as the most effective and inexpensive mechanism by the government to reduce carbon input, and also the level of climate change that occurs due to the release of industrial emissions in the world. Carbon taxes can be a regressive tax such that they may affect low-income groups directly or indirectly, this can be addressed by using tax revenues to favor low-income groups (Thornton 2007). It places a monetary value on the cost imposed on the economy by the effects of GHGs emission they cause resulting in global warming. The price is set equivalent to the cleaner choices of energy like solar and wind. The initiative is aimed at ensuring industries having stronger emissions to switch to investing in fewer GHG emissions (Malik 2008). The weakness in the measure is that it is certain about the price but does not provide an accurate percentage of emission that is equivalent to that price. The procedure can work well as long as it is designed to encourage an economic move to cleaner energy (Thornton 2007). The Carbon tax will also slow the growth of industries that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide, and this will lead to boosting of industries that use clean energy (Lovell 2011). The need for clean energy has raised the need for analysis and research on the effective utilization of nuclear energy to supplement increasing the need for energy in the world. Nuclear power involves use of nuclear energy released from nuclear reactors to generate electricity (Malik 2008). Nuclear energy is far more powerful than all other sources of energies under use, and it does not produce carbon dioxide. The utilization of nuclear energy results to powerful and cheap source of energy, but the initial set up of nuclear plants is very sensitive and expensive. Increased research and skills in respect to nuclear energy production have made switching to nuclear power to operate nowadays (Lerner 2009). Nevertheless, the main problem involves how to dispose of the radioactive material wastes so that they will not affect the flora and fauna. Another reason why the implementation of switching to nuclear power is not possible is that there is a need for portable fuel like gasoline for cars, since nuclear energy generated cannot be directly used in cars but only in industries. Nevertheless, more research and development is necessary to promote nuclear power proliferation in the world as well as promote transparency in the use of nuclear plants. This will ensure no selfish motives are used with respect to nuclear power development. Carbon tax initiative has a greater impact on the overall achievement of carbon emission reduction to the atmosphere. This is because governments have the capacity to monitor the emission and impose taxes that will discourage increased carbon emission. Carbon tax compared to switching to nuclear power will be the most effective method of reducing GHG emissions in the next 25 years (Thornton 2007). The impact of using nuclear energy has a permanent negative impact on people; this is usually from the radioactive waste materials from nuclear reactors. Implementation of the carbon tax will mean that most industries will start using clean and renewable sources of energy which are free from carbon dioxide. Even though nuclear power will reduce emission by approximately 75%, the impact that may be felt in the case of breakdown of a nuclear reactor will be more severe leading to mutation and cancer (Malik 2008). Nevertheless, effective planning will ensure management and proper mitigation measures to curb any eventuality in case of any accident occurrence. Advantages and Disadvantages of Carbon Tax and Switching To Nuclear Power There are various advantages attached to the utilization of carbon tax and embracing of nuclear power in respect to curbing negative climatic changes. Carbon taxes will increase the prices of carbon intensive goods which will lead to many industries being innovative in renewable energy. Further, other technologies and more investment will be made to reduce emission of carbon dioxide, with the revenue collected from carbon tax being utilized in research and develop of clean energy (Learner 2009). Limitation of implementing the carbon tax, on the other hand, will result in an increase in the cost of natural gas as a source of electricity since it emits less carbon (Thornton 2007). Switching to nuclear power will lower greenhouse gas emission since it does not release any by-products; which are largely responsible for the greenhouse effect (Thornton 2007). It is also the most powerful and efficient alternative energy source in the world since other fossil fuels are consumed faster than they are produced. Increased incorporation of green energy in the industrial sector will promote production and contribute greatly to reducing the negative effects caused by industrialization that have wrecked havoc to the atmosphere. Despite the advantages that are accompanied by the use of nuclear power and the high level of safety used in the system, the venture is delicate and complicated with profound risks of accidents that can results in great fatalities. Further, there is great concerns surrounding the disposal of radioactive by-products which can affect the humanity negatively if not handled and disposed properly. A good example of nuclear disaster is the Chernobyl nuclear accident which resulted in the death of many people. Accidents occurring from nuclear plants results in negative impacts occurring for longer durations characterized with mutations and cancer cases. In conclusion, the need for increased industrial activities targeting mitigation of negative climatic changes is inevitable. The use of green energy is live to the fact that through its utilization, less carbon emission is achieved. Nevertheless, the use of carbon tax policy and nuclear power is faced with a number of challenges requiring critical considerations. Thus, for effectiveness in the management of climate change, there is a need for concerted efforts looking into the effective energy utilization resulting in reduced carbon emission. Reference List Lerner, A. 2009, Climate change. Farmington Hills. MI: Greenhaven Press. Lovell, B. 2010, Challenged by carbon: The oil industry and climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Malik, A. 2008, Causes of climate change. New Delhi, India: Rajat Publications. Meyer, A. 2000, Contraction & convergence: The global solution to climate change. Totnes, Devon: Green Books for the Schumacher Society. Thornton, K. 2007, ‘Minimum carbon tax level needed to prompt a widespread shift to nuclear power.’ Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read More