Energy development

Societies use energy for transportation, manufacturing, illumination, heating and air conditioning, and communication, for industrial, commercial, agricultural and domestic purposes.

[52][53] Since the 1970s, nuclear fuel has displaced about 64 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2-eq) greenhouse gases, that would have otherwise resulted from the burning of oil, coal or natural gas in fossil-fuel power stations.

[61] In Eastern Europe, a number of long-established projects are struggling to find finance, notably Belene in Bulgaria and the additional reactors at Cernavoda in Romania, and some potential backers have pulled out.

[64] Costs are likely to go up for currently operating and new nuclear power plants, due to increased requirements for on-site spent fuel management and elevated design basis threats.

Rural electrification[74] has been researched on multiple sites and positive effects on commercial spending, appliance use, and general activities requiring electricity as energy.

To ensure human development continues sustainably, governments around the world are beginning to research potential ways to implement renewable sources into their countries and economies.

[79] Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, and has a considerably lower output level of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than fossil fuel powered energy plants.

[82] Several countries have achieved relatively high levels of wind power penetration, such as 21% of stationary electricity production in Denmark,[83] 18% in Portugal,[83] 16% in Spain,[83] 14% in Ireland,[84] and 9% in Germany in 2010.

Passive solar techniques include designing a building for better daylighting, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties, and organizing spaces that naturally circulate air.

[85]: 13–14  The International Energy Agency has a goal for biofuels to meet more than a quarter of world demand for transportation fuels by 2050 to reduce dependence on petroleum and coal.

[106] Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly,[107] but has historically been limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries.

Recent technological advances have dramatically expanded the range and size of viable resources, especially for applications such as home heating, opening a potential for widespread exploitation.

Geothermal wells release greenhouse gases trapped deep within the earth, but these emissions are much lower per energy unit than those of fossil fuels.

Canada and China introduced incentives, such as feed-in tariffs (FiTs), which are above-market prices for MRE that allow investors and project developers a stable income.

Both countries are focusing on solar and offshore wind auctions to attract private investment, ensure cost-effectiveness, and accelerate MRE growth.

MRE can be a renewable energy source for coastal communities helping their transition from fossil fuel, but researchers are calling for a better understanding of its environmental impacts.

MRE devices can be an ideal home for many fish, crayfish, mollusks, and barnacles; and may also indirectly affect seabirds, and marine mammals because they feed on those species.

[119] In the most recent State of Science Report about MRE, the authors claim that there is no evidence for fish, mammals, or seabirds to be injured by either collision, noise pollution, or the electromagnetic field.

Smil and Hansen are concerned about the variable output of solar and wind power, but Amory Lovins argues that the electricity grid can cope, just as it routinely backs up nonworking coal-fired and nuclear plants with working ones.

Installing fluorescent lamps or natural skylights reduces the amount of energy required for illumination compared to incandescent light bulbs.

The proposed method involves creating a large beam of microwave-frequency radio waves, which would be aimed at a collector antenna site on the Earth.

Since prehistory, when humanity discovered fire to warm up and roast food, through the Middle Ages in which populations built windmills to grind the wheat, until the modern era in which nations can get electricity splitting the atom.

Except nuclear, geothermal and tidal, all other energy sources are from current solar isolation or from fossil remains of plant and animal life that relied upon sunlight.

In 1989, predicted peak by Colin Campbell[137] In 2004, OPEC estimated, with substantial investments, it would nearly double oil output by 2025[138] The environmental movement has emphasized sustainability of energy use and development.

Modeling approaches offer ways to analyze diverse strategies, and hopefully find a road to rapid and sustainable development of humanity.

New technology may lower the energy investment required to extract and convert the resources, although ultimately basic physics sets limits that cannot be exceeded.

[150] One vision of a sustainable energy future involves all human structures on the earth's surface (i.e., buildings, vehicles and roads) doing artificial photosynthesis (using sunlight to split water as a source of hydrogen and absorbing carbon dioxide to make fertilizer) efficiently than plants.

Exhaust gas purification technology aims to lessen air pollution through sundry mechanical, thermal and chemical cleaning methods.

A more recent innovation involves the use of shallow closed-loop systems that pump heat to and from structures by taking advantage of the constant temperature of soil around 10 feet deep.

Bioenergy deals with the gathering, processing and use of biomasses grown in biological manufacturing, agriculture and forestry from which power plants can draw burning fuel.