scholarly journals Changing NPP consumption patterns in the Holocene: From megafauna-‘liberated’ NPP to ‘ecological bankruptcy’

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher E Doughty ◽  
Søren Faurby ◽  
Adam Wolf ◽  
Yadvinder Malhi ◽  
Jens-Christian Svenning
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Wild Mammals ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Early Humans ◽  
Energy Surplus

There have been vast changes in how net primary production (NPP) has been consumed by humans and animals through the Holocene. Here we ask: how much NPP energy may have become available following the megafauna extinctions? When did humans, through agriculture and livestock, consume more NPP than wild mammals? When did humans and wild mammals use more energy than was available in total NPP in each country? The megafauna extinctions potentially liberated ~2.2–5.3% of global NPP that early humans eventually consumed. By 1850, humans began to consume more than wild mammals (globally averaged). Currently, >82% of people live in ‘ecologically bankrupt’ countries where all plant production could not satisfy our energy demands. To summarize, we began the Holocene with an NPP energy surplus, became the dominant consumers of NPP over the natural world by the start of the Industrial Revolution, but now consume more total energy (including fossil fuels) than is available in NPP in most countries.

scholarly journals Editorial

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 02
Author(s):  
Diogo Berta Pitz
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Steam Generators ◽  
Computing Power ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Residential Use ◽  
Engineering Projects

Since the Industrial Revolution mankind has been interested in obtaining energy from various sources in order to fulfill its ever-increasing energy demands for industrial, commercial and residential use. Fortunately, we have been able to produce energy in quantities that permit technological innovations and the spread of existing technologies around the world. Such success is due not only to the search for alternatives to fossil fuels, but also to the development of devices that allow fuels to be used in rational, efficient ways. The refinement of equipment that improve our lives – from refrigeration devices used in residential applications to steam generators and gas turbines employed to generate electricity in thermal power plants – is only possible due to physical understanding of processes such as heat transfer, combustion, fluid flow dynamics and thermodynamic systems. Physical modeling of such phenomena provides tools for optimization of engineering projects, which ultimately results in an efficient use of the energy resources available. In an era where the computing power available allows us to analyze models that are ever more faithful to the physical behavior of real processes, we have the ability to push existing technologies to ever-increasing limits of energy efficiency and to explore the viability of new processes.

Summary

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert May
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
The Past ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Co2 Levels ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of

Energy . . . Beyond Oil is important and timely and should be understood within the wider context of global climate change and future energy demands. In the 1780s John Watts developed his steam engine and so began the Industrial Revolution. At this time, ice-core records show that levels of CO2 in the atmosphere were around 288 parts per million (ppm). Give or take 10 ppm, this had been their level for the past 6,000 years, since the dawn of the first cities. As industrialization drove up the burning of fossil fuels in the developed world, CO2 levels rose. At first the rise was slow. It took about a century and a half to reach 315 ppm. The rise accelerated during the twentieth century: 330 ppm by the mid-1970s; 360 ppm by the 1990s; 380 ppm today. This change of 20 ppm over the past decade is equal to that last seen when the most recent ice age ended, ushering in the dawn of the Holocene epoch, 10,000 years ago. If current trends continue, then by about 2050 atmospheric CO2 levels will have reachedaround500 ppm, nearly double pre-industrial levels. The last time our planet experienced such high levels was some 50 million years ago, during the Eocene epoch, when sea levels were around100 m higher than today. The Dutch Nobelist, Paul Crutzen, has, indeed, suggested that we should recognize that we are now living in a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. He sees this epoch as beginning around 1780, when industrialization began to change the geochemical history of our planet. Even today, there continues to exist a ‘denial lobby’, funded to the tune of tens of millions of dollars by sectors of the petrochemical industry, and highly influential in some countries. This lobby has understandable similarities, in tactics and attitudes, to the tobacco lobby that continues to deny smoking causes lung cancer, or the curious lobby denying that HIV causes AIDS. This denial lobby is currently very influential in the USA.

Ibn Khaldun’s Theory of Social Change

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fida Mohammad
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Social Knowledge ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Ibn Khaldun ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Compare And Contrast

In this article I shall compare and contrast Ibn Khaldun’s ideas aboutsociohistorical change with those of Hegel, Marx, and Durkheim. I willdiscuss and elaborate Ibn Khaldun’s major ideas about historical andsocial change and compare them with three important figures of modemWestern sociology and philosophy.On reading Ibn Khaldun one should remember that he was living in thefourteenth century and did not have the privilege of witnessing the socialdislocation created by the industrial revolution. It is also very difficult tocategorize Ibn Khaldun within a single philosophical tradition. He is arationalist as well as an empiricist, a historicist as well as a believer inhuman agency in the historical process. One can see many “modem”themes in his thinking, although he lived a hundred years beforeMachiavelli.Lauer, who considers Ibn Khaldun the pioneer of modem sociologicalthought, has summarized the main points of his philosophy.’ In his interpretationof Ibn Khaldun, he notes that historical processes follow a regularpattern. However, whereas this pattern shows sufficient regularity, itis not as rigid as it is in the natural world. In this regard the position ofIbn Khaldun is radically different from those philosophies of history thatposit an immutable course of history determined by the will of divineprovidence or other forces. Ibn Khaldun believes that the individual isneither a completely passive recipient nor a full agent of the historicalprocess. Social laws can be discovered through observation and datagathering, and this empirical grounding of social knowledge represents adeparture from traditional rational and metaphysical thinking ...

scholarly journals Powering the next industrial revolution: transitioning from nonrenewable energy to solar fuels via CO2 reduction

RSC Advances ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-113
Author(s):  
Rami J. Batrice ◽  
John C. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Co2 Reduction ◽  
Solar Fuels ◽  
Chemical Bonds ◽  
Direct Production ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Nonrenewable Energy

Solar energy has been used for decades for the direct production of electricity in various industries and devices. However, harnessing and storing this energy in the form of chemical bonds has emerged as a promising alternative to fossil fuels.

scholarly journals Recent Advances in Polymer-Inorganic Mixed Matrix Membranes for CO2 Separation

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2539
Author(s):  
Sipei Li ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Dana A. Wong ◽  
John Yang
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Sieves ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Metal Oxide Nanoparticles ◽  
Mixed Matrix Membranes ◽  
Co2 Separation ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Mixed Matrix ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Matrix Membranes

Since the second industrial revolution, the use of fossil fuels has been powering the advance of human society. However, the surge in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions has raised unsettling concerns about global warming and its consequences. Membrane separation technologies have emerged as one of the major carbon reduction approaches because they are less energy-intensive and more environmentally friendly compared to other separation techniques. Compared to pure polymeric membranes, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) that encompass both a polymeric matrix and molecular sieving fillers have received tremendous attention, as they have the potential to combine the advantages of both polymers and molecular sieves, while cancelling out each other’s drawbacks. In this review, we will discuss recent advances in the development of MMMs for CO2 separation. We will discuss general mechanisms of CO2 separation in an MMM, and then compare the performances of MMMs that are based on zeolite, MOF, metal oxide nanoparticles and nanocarbons, with an emphasis on the materials’ preparation methods and their chemistries. As the field is advancing fast, we will particularly focus on examples from the last 5 years, in order to provide the most up-to-date overview in this area.

scholarly journals CO2 Valorization and Its Subsequent Valorization

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 500
Author(s):  
Juan Antonio Cecilia ◽  
Daniel Ballesteros Plata ◽  
Enrique Vilarrasa García
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
World Population ◽  
Anthropogenic Co2 ◽  
The World ◽  
Co2 Valorization

After the industrial revolution, the increase in the world population and the consumption of fossil fuels has led to an increase in anthropogenic CO2 emissions [...]

scholarly journals The contribution of bioethanol to sustainable development in Serbia

2013 ◽  
pp. 397-404
Author(s):  
Stevan Popov ◽  
Sinisa Dodic ◽  
Damjan Vucurovic ◽  
Jelena Dodic ◽  
Jovana Grahovac
Keyword(s):  
Energy Source ◽  
Renewable Energy Source ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Plant Origin ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
The Republic

The pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels for the production of mechanical or electrical energy is one of the most important environmental issues nowa?days. In this respect, biofuels represent a viable source of energy. Bioethanol as a renewable energy source is derived from organic material of plant origin, so-called biomass, thus reducing environmental pollution. The aim of this study was to analyze the potential of bioethanol in meeting future energy demands in the Republic of Serbia.

scholarly journals Energy Re-Shift for an Urbanizing World

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5516
Author(s):  
Giuseppe T. Cirella ◽  
Alessio Russo ◽  
Federico Benassi ◽  
Ernest Czermański ◽  
Anatoliy G. Goncharuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Modern Cities ◽  
Human Energy ◽  
Energy Politics ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
The Will

This essay considers the rural-to-urban transition and correlates it with urban energy demands. Three distinct themes are inspected and interrelated to develop awareness for an urbanizing world: internal urban design and innovation, technical transition, and geopolitical change. Data were collected on the use of energy in cities and, by extension, nation states over the last 30 years. The urban population boom continues to pressure the energy dimension with heavily weighted impacts on less developed regions. Sustainable urban energy will need to reduce resource inputs and environmental impacts and decouple economic growth from energy consumption. Fossil fuels continue to be the preferred method of energy for cities; however, an increased understanding is emerging that sustainable energy forms can be implemented as alternatives. Key to this transition will be the will to invest in renewables (i.e., solar, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal, and biomass), efficient infrastructure, and smart eco-city designs. This essay elucidates how the technical transition of energy-friendly technologies focuses on understanding the changes in the energy mix from non-renewable to renewable. Smart electricity storage grids with artificial intelligence can operate internationally and alleviate some geopolitical barriers. Energy politics is shown to be a problematic hurdle with case research examples specific to Central and Eastern Europe. The energy re-shift stressed is a philosophical re-thinking of modern cities as well as a new approach to the human-energy relationship.

scholarly journals The Australian terrestrial carbon budget

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 12259-12308 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Haverd ◽  
M. R. Raupach ◽  
P. R. Briggs ◽  
J. G. Canadell ◽  
S. J. Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Carbon Budget ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Australian Continent ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Riverine Export ◽  
Fossil Fuel Emissions

Abstract. This paper reports a study of the full carbon (C-CO2) budget of the Australian continent, focussing on 1990–2011 in the context of estimates over two centuries. The work is a contribution to the RECCAP (REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes) project, as one of numerous regional studies being synthesised in RECCAP. In constructing the budget, we estimate the following component carbon fluxes: Net Primary Production (NPP); Net Ecosystem Production (NEP); fire; Land Use Change (LUC); riverine export; dust export; harvest (wood, crop and livestock) and fossil fuel emissions (both territorial and non-territorial). The mean NEP reveals that climate variability and rising CO2 contributed 12 ± 29 (1σ error on mean) and 68 ± 35 Tg C yr−1 respectively. However these gains were partially offset by fire and LUC (along with other minor fluxes), which caused net losses of 31 ± 5 Tg C yr−1 and 18 ± 7 Tg C yr−1 respectively. The resultant Net Biome Production (NBP) of 31 ± 35 Tg C yr−1 offset fossil fuel emissions (95 ± 6 Tg C yr−1) by 32 ± 36%. The interannual variability (IAV) in the Australian carbon budget exceeds Australia's total carbon emissions by fossil fuel combustion and is dominated by IAV in NEP. Territorial fossil fuel emissions are significantly smaller than the rapidly growing fossil fuel exports: in 2009–2010, Australia exported 2.5 times more carbon in fossil fuels than it emitted by burning fossil fuels.

scholarly journals An Agro-Based Society after Post-Industrial Society: From a Perspective of Economic Growth Paradigm

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 455
Author(s):  
Hongyun Han ◽  
Sheng Xia
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Degraded Ecosystems ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Post Industrial

Since the Industrial Revolution, a new era has arisen called the Anthropocene, in which human actions have become the main driver of global environmental change outside the stable environmental state of the Holocene. During the Holocene, environmental change occurred naturally, and the Earth’s regulatory capacity maintained the conditions that enabled human development. Resource overexploitation of the industrial “Anthropocene”, under the principle of profit maximization, has led to planetary ecological crises, such as overloaded carbon sinks and climate changes, vanishing species, degraded ecosystems, and insufficient natural resources. Agro-based society, in which almost all demands of humans can be supported by agriculture, is characterized by life production. The substitution of Agro-based society for a post-industrial society is an evolutionary result of social movement, it is an internal requirement of a sustainable society for breaking through the resource constraint of economic growth. The core feature of agriculture is to use organisms as production objects and rely on life processes to achieve production goals. The substitution of Agro-based society for a post-industrial society is the precondition for a sustainable carbon cycle, breaking through the resource limits of the industrial “Anthropocene”, alleviating the environmental pressure of economic development, and promoting society from increasing disorderly entropy to orderly decreasing entropy. Meanwhile, technological advancements and growing environmental awareness of society make it feasible for the substitution of an agro-based society for a post-industrial society.

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