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Chapter 10
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IntroductionModern society is propelled by energy. The energy sector is a major user of natural resources. This use increased greatly in the latter half of the 20th century. From the mid-1950s to mid-1970s (when use stalled due to the sudden oil price increase), energy consumption in Western Europe, and probably very similarly in Eastern and Central Europe, increased nearly fourfold. Today, oil, gas, coal and other fossil fuels are the base of a dramatically enlarged international energy market. We have all become "oil addicts." The large-scale turnover of energy has become one of the major sources of local, regional, and global environmental impacts on the atmosphere. Energy conversion has caused large scale changes of the physics of the planet. Firstly, the burning of fossil fuels charges the atmosphere by addition of carbon dioxide, which is believed to be the major reason why Earth is presently going through a period of rapidly increasing temperature, predicted to continue far into the 21st century. Secondly, the chlorine-containing pollutants, in particular freons, have been shown to escape into the upper layer of the atmosphere, the stratosphere, where they contribute to ozone destruction. The consequence of decreasing stratospheric ozone is increased UV radiation, a further change in the physics of the planet. This chapter contains an overview of energy production in the Baltic Sea basin, and describes the environmental consequences of this production. The impacts of energy use are mainly due to the material flows connected with it. The movement of large amounts of coal from fossil sources to the biosphere is not sustainable. Other means of energy production also have damaging environmental consequences. Large-scale hydropower requires the construction of large dams which dramatically reshape the rivers that power them and the whole landscape, and nuclear power have problems throughout the nuclear fuel chain. Special attention is given to climate change, and ozone depletion. It is also here that the present international efforts to agree on measures to reduce the impacts on our common atmosphere is most intense. Impacts on air quality are treated in the next chapter. Energy is used mainly in three areas of society. The
traffic sector, corresponding to about 25% of energy used, might be the
largest problem, as it is almost entirely dependent on fossil fuel and
is rapidly increasing. In the household and industry sectors, which are
the other two main users, improvements are being made. Improving energy
conservation and efficiency is feasible, especially in the former
socialist states where energy use was extremely inefficient. It has
been estimated that it is possible to save up to one-third of today's
energy by applying existing technology. With the introduction of better
technology, such as low energy houses and improved cars, we should be
able to reduce present energy flows by about 50%. However, most
important is to make a transition towards solar based energy systems
and leave the fossil fuel dependent society behind. Authors of this chapter are: |
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