Well, it will cause global temperatures to rise. Arid regions become drier, sea levels rise, snow melts, species die and other such consequences are to be expected . In other words, we are smoking ourselves towards an ecological crisis, that is well underway.





Things get significantly worse when our current sources of oil run out , and we start exploiting untapped reserves . These currently amount to more than twice the conventional reserves. As oil prices rise, it becomes more and more reasonable to start using these reserves.

Less than a third is conventional oil Break-even prices. Burning these as well could leave us in 2300 with up to Burning these as well could leave us in 2300 with up to 9 trillion tons of CO2 , temperatures 9.5°C warmer and sea levels up to 6m higher . The latter would drown millions of people and render our historic coastlines unrecognizable.

North American coastlines after sea levels rise What are we doing about it?





The current efforts to combat global warming can roughly be divided into two categories: efficiency and new sources.







A Golf 5 with a Bluemotion engine New sources are all efforts made to reduce fossil fuel consumption by utilizing solar, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal and novelty power. These range from mature applications, such as the Hoover dam, to laboratory tests, such undersea tidal turbines.

One of the Deltastream generators approved for use in Wales Efficiency groups all efforts made to reduce the emissions from using fossil fuels. Eco-friendly transport, carbon-capture cooling towers in power plants, housing insulation, emissions regulations... they are currently the most convenient and most cost-effective in the short term.New sources are all efforts made to reduce fossil fuel consumption by utilizing solar, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal and novelty power. These range from mature applications, such as the Hoover dam, to laboratory tests, such undersea tidal turbines.

These efforts are concentrated in well-developed countries. Countries like the United States and France generate a lot of their energy from nuclear power (19.5% and 75% respectively), while others such as Germany derive up to 30% of their power from renewable sources





So what's the problem?





'Efficiency' efforts only slow down global warming. The biggest climate offenders are countries such as India and China, that are also the most resistant to ecological restrictions that would hamper their economic growth. For some states in Africa, economic growth would be impossible if restrictions similar to those of EU member states are applied.





'New source' efforts are generally small-scale in application, compared to the prevalence of fossil fuel power. This is due to a trifecta of maluses that hinder their widespread use: low energy density, discontinuous supply and difficulty of storage.





Energy sources like solar power do not generate much electricity per square meter. This is a problem also encountered with wind and sea-derived energy sources.

Gujurat Solar Park. A coal-fired plant definitely takes less space. Discontinuous supply means that the energy source does not generate the same amount of watts over a long period of time. For solar power, energy is not generated at all at night. For wind, calm days means no power. For sea, the tides are widely spaced apart. Other sources, such as nuclear, can provide continuous supply, but are nearly impossible to Discontinuous supply means that the energy source does not generate the same amount of watts over a long period of time. For solar power, energy is not generated at all at night. For wind, calm days means no power. For sea, the tides are widely spaced apart. Other sources, such as nuclear, can provide continuous supply, but are nearly impossible to ramp up and down in response to changes in the population's energy use habits.







A solar thermal power plant using molten salts to stare and transfer solar energy. The other option to storing the electricity is at the user's end: electric vehicles, for example, have very large batteries designed to store all the energy required for the trip. Finally, electricity is much easier to transport than it is to store. For example, a solar power plant would optimally have the ability to store half of the power generated during the day, to release it during the night. Realistically, it would require kilotons of expensive batteries or that would render storage prohibitively expensive (and would defeat the ecological purpose entirely). Other options, such as molten salts or hot water, are inefficient and low-capacity, leading to expensive and lossy solutions. This is especially important, as storing the excess energy to compensate for lulls in production would make wind and solar energy competitive compared to more secure sources.The other option to storing the electricity is at the user's end: electric vehicles, for example, have very large batteries designed to store all the energy required for the trip.





If neither solution to storing the energy generated is possible, then something awkward and expensive such as recharge points every 100km would be necessary.





So, Ethanol.







Ethanol pump Replacing fossil fuels with ethanol generated through a modified Ethanol , formula C2H6O, is already commonly used as a fuel Replacing fossil fuels with ethanol generated through a modified Sabatier reaction can solve most of the aforementioned issues with a transition from fossil fuels to renewables and other more ecological options.





The process involves these steps:





-Electrical power is generated by a power station

-Electricity is used to break down water into oxygen and hydrogen

-Atmospheric CO2 is added to hydrogen in a 300-400 ° C reactor

-The Methane produced is converted into Ethanol

-Liquid Ethanol is sold just like gasoline today