scholarly journals Development Process of Energy Mix towards Neutral Carbon Future of the Slovak Republic: A Review

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1263
Author(s):  
Martin Beer ◽  
Radim Rybár

Global climate change is putting humanity under pressure, which in many areas poses an unprecedented threat to society as we know it. In an effort to mitigate its effects, it is necessary to reduce the overall production of greenhouse gases and thus, dependence on fossil fuels in all areas of human activities. The presented paper deals with an evaluation of energy mix of the Slovak Republic and four selected neighboring countries in the context of achieving their carbon neutral or carbon negative future. The development of the evaluated energy mixes as well as greenhouse gas emissions is presented from a long-term perspective, which makes it possible to evaluate and compare mutual trends and approaches to emission-free energy sectors.

Author(s):  
Idil Boran ◽  
Corey Katz

Climate change justice is a branch of philosophical inquiry concerned with fair terms of cooperation for addressing global climate change. Global climate change refers to the adverse effects of rising average global temperature on meteorological, environmental, and societal systems due to human activities. Independent observations show a rising trend in average global surface temperature since 1880, with most of the relevant global warming occurring since the 1980s. These climatic changes are the outcome of heightened concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) – e.g., carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide – in the atmosphere. These gases are produced by a wide range of human activities, from the burning of fossil fuels for energy at both the industrial and the consumer level to overall land use. The fundamental relation between concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere and global warming is well understood. And yet, achieving effective and fair international coordination to respond to the problem of global climate change has been far more challenging than expected. One of the reasons for this is that any attempt to address global climate change raises complex problems of justice. First, those communities that are most vulnerable to the risks and harms of climate change have contributed the least to the problem. Second, economic capacity to address the problem is not distributed equally around the globe. Third, political communities and generations have clashing interest claims in relation to the burdens of addressing climate change. These circumstances raise pressing questions about how to coordinate global and intergenerational cooperation. The debate over climate change justice has been primarily concerned with what counts as a just allocation of burdens and benefits in the global response to the problem of climate change. To a large extent, philosophical interest in these questions developed against the backdrop of the international effort to reach a global agreement. A prominent discussion within this debate is concerned with the allocation of duties and rights with regard to climate action. Broadly speaking, there are two distinct categories of climate change action. One is mitigation, which refers to efforts to reduce GHG emissions; the other is adaptation and refers to a wide range of actions to help adjust social systems to a changing climate. Much of the philosophical debate has revolved around the allocation of mitigation duties. More recently, questions of justice for adaptation along with alternative perspectives that challenge the allocative framework have been attracting interest.


2019 ◽  
pp. 79-95
Author(s):  
N.E. Terentiev

Based on the latest data, paper investigates the dynamics of global climate change and its impact on economic growth in the long-term. The notion of climate risk is considered. The main directions of climate risk management policies are analyzed aimed, first, at reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions through technological innovation and structural economic shifts; secondly, at adaptation of population, territories and economic complexes to the irreparable effects of climate change. The problem of taking into account the phenomenon of climate change in the state economic policy is put in the context of the most urgent tasks of intensification of long-term socio-economic development and parrying strategic challenges to the development of Russia.


Stanovnistvo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Predrag Petrovic ◽  
Goran Nikolic ◽  
Ivana Ostojic

Over the past several decades there has been a strong intensifying trend of human society impact on ecosystems, consumption of natural resources and global change. The environmental impact of the society is fully apparent and dominantly implemented through various greenhouse gases emissions (GHG), leading towards global climate change with considerably spread harmful effects. Global climate change includes the earth and ocean surface and atmospheric warming, but also melting of snow and ice, increase of sea levels and ocean acidity, as well as ever more common natural phenomena extremes (winds, various forms of rainfall/precipitation, extremely low or high temperatures, etc.). Scientists are well-familiarized with the fact that use of fossil fuels, such as oil derivatives and coal, is the main generator of harmful gases. In addition, possible substitutions for fossil fuels in the form of other energy sources are very limited, and it should be remembered that other energy sources also have certain adverse environmental effects. Bearing in mind climate change caused by products of fossil fuels combustion, as well as inevitable depletion of natural crude oil resources, management of growing global energy demand becomes one of the key goals and challenges of 21st century. If these reasons are coupled with obligations emanating from Kyoto Protocol, it is clear that attention of researches should be more than reasonably focused on the main determinants of energy consumption. This study is focused on illumination of key demographic and economic determinants of energy consumption in 28 EU member states in the period 1960- 2014. The results obtained demonstrate that population positively and quite strongly influence total energy consumption. An increase of population of 1% will result in an increase of energy consumption of 1.59% to 1.76%. Such relation most probably can be explained by the fact that demographic growth of the society aggravates and complicates planning processes of efficient energy consumption, diminishing the ability of society to be energy efficient. The population effect of persons aged 65 and above to energy consumption is also positive. An increase in share of this age group of 1% will result in an increase in energy consumption of approximately 0.43%. Positive elasticity coefficient should be understood as a proof that European societies with higher share of senior citizens consume more energy that societies with higher share of younger population, not necessarily as an argument that senior citizens use more energy than younger population. The explanation for such nature of a cause-andeffect relation could be that high share of senior citizens influences the structure of production and consumption, spatial distribution of population, transport infrastructure and social services provided. A significant influence on energy consumption in the EU is made by the level of economic development of countries, which is in accordance with the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), suggesting a relation of inverted letter ?U?. The amount of income per capita needed to have the EKC expressed ranges between 54,183 and 81,552 dollars.


Glaciers ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Daniel Taillant

In the preceding chapters of this book, we’ve traveled through a world of ice that was probably largely uncharted for most of us. Hopefully, we’ve learned a little bit about these fantastic frozen natural resources that play such a fundamental role in the sustainability and balance of our global ecosystem. Glaciers are melting. They are in danger because we have placed them in danger and, as such, we need to take note of and responsibility for this vulnerability, not only to protect glaciers but also to protect the very essence of our global habitat. Glaciers have been unprotected because they are obscure, removed, alien to our daily lives, located in far away places that are for the most part inhospitable to our way of life. And yet, they are a fundamental and integral part of our way of life. With modern tools like the Internet and programs like Google Earth, we can get closer to these fabulous vulnerable resources, to learn about them and work to protect them. The world is challenged today to address global climate change. If we envision a sustainable and harmonious environment in our future, we must progressively move away from fossil fuels and introduce a more balanced and sustainable mix of energy sources grounded on renewable energy. We must find solutions to generating, harnessing, transporting, and managing renewable energies, and we must progressively phase out oil and gas from our daily lives. It is possible; it just takes personal and collective conviction to set ourselves in motion to achieve this goal. Glaciers are a majestic resource, inspiring awe and wonder in a world of frozen beauty that awaits our discovery but that also alerts us to our excesses and indifference. We are losing our glaciers because we have ignored the extreme vulnerability of our planetary ecosystem, and we now must face difficult decisions about policy, consumption, and lifestyle changes that shake the foundations of our society. Global climate change for many seems intangible.


2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 85-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. D. Williams

The global hydrological and salt cycles are described, as are the ways in which human activities have led to their disturbance. One effect of this disturbance is the unnatural increase in the salinity of many inland waters (secondary salinization). The geographical extent of secondary salinization is outlined, together with its effects on various types of inland waters, such as salt lakes, freshwater lakes and wetlands, and rivers and streams. The likely impact on salinization of global climate change is summarized.


2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 497-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline E. Huntoon ◽  
Robert K. Ridky

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Lane

<p>The Anthropocene is widely described as producing a rupture in the global stratigraphic signature, attributable to human activities. There is no doubt that human activities have introduced new products into the stratigraphic record; and that humans are modifying the geomorphic processes that produce the sediment which then becomes incorporated into that record. The stratigraphic literature is replete with simplistic generalisations of how sediment flux to the continental shelf is changing, such as increasing due to soil erosion or decreasing due to hydropower related sediment flux disconnection. Here we argue that human impacts on geomorphic processes in the Anthropocene are unlikely to be stationary for long enough for them to be seen consistently across the depositional record of many different environments. Illustrating this for a major inner-Alpine drainage basin, the Swiss Rhône, we show that human-driven global climate-change is indeed dramatically altering the geomorphic process regimes of Alpine environments. However, there are three broad reasons why this is unlikely to be seen in the future geological record. First, the geomorphic response that drives increased sediment delivery is transient because of the significant regime changes associated with global climate change impacts. Second, such increases are countered by other human impacts, notably those on sediment flux, which are tending to reduce the connectivity of sediment sources to downstream sediment sinks. Third, human impacts on both sediment sources and connectivity are nonstationary, driven by both exogenous factors (here illustrated by the worldwide economic shock of 2008) and endogenous ones, notably human response to the perceived problems caused by both sediment starvation and sediment over-supply. In geomorphic terms, then, there is a difference between the pervasive nature of Earth system shifts that we see in the pre-Holocene depositional record and the more ephemeral impacts of the Earth system – human coupling associated with the Anthropocene. The extent to which this is the case is likely to vary geographically and temporally as a function of the degree and nature of human impacts on geomorphic processes. Thus, the primary challenge for future prediction will be as much the prediction of the complex and reflexive nature of human response as it will be geomorphic processes themselves.</p>


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