McDermott: Trends in Offshore Oil & Gas - GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 021, McD | Page 24

And what does climate change have to do with
poor people, you ask? Much, and its effects
are direct. Poor people, despite being the least
responsible for emitting harmful gases that lead
to climate change, are often the most severely
affected by it. Millions of the world’s poorest
families derive their living from farming, and the
changes in weather patterns spurred by climate
change affect the growth of their crops, hence
their income and the food on their table. Thus,
climate change, on top of a limited access to
electricity, sinks them deeper into poverty. But, reducing one of the factors to zero may
be easier said than done. P cannot be zero, as
it would mean we’d all be dead. But seriously,
population is expected to increase in the coming
years, so there will be no way that it can be
brought down to zero (unless a catastrophe
happens, and we’d all be wiped out like what
happened to the dinosaurs)
In order to avoid long-term adverse changes to
the world’s climate, scientists say that we have
to cut our GHG emissions by as much as 80%
by 2050, and completely eliminate them by the
end of the century. This may be a herculean
order, in light of the fact that in 2015 alone, the
world emitted 36 billion tons of carbon dioxide to
produce energy. How is it even remotely possible
that we can reduce 36 billion tons (and expected
to grow year on year) to zero, nil, nada, niente? Efficient use of E has made inroads in recent
years, but industry experts still predict that
energy use will go up by 50% in 2050. So, it
cannot come to naught.
Gates has a simple yet masterful illustration
of how the world might get its CO2 emissions
down to zero.
He explained that CO2 is a product of four
factors: P (population), S (services used by each
person), E (energy needed to provide each of
those services) and C (carbon dioxide, which
is produced by E). Gates said that in order to
reduce CO2 to zero, one of the factors should be
zero. Simple multiplication, isn’t it?
S cannot be zero, because it actually has to go
up to improve the living conditions of the poor.
So, S as zero is out of the question.
And we’re down to C, the amount of carbon
emitted per unit of energy. Gates said that
with the advent of environmentally friendly
technologies, carbon-free energy was already
possible. Green technologies are truly gaining
traction and are becoming cheaper as more
people embrace them, but there is still wriggle
room for innovation.
Green energy sources like solar and wind are
intermittent, and technologies running on them
should still be optimized to become a reliable
prime source of electrical power. Provisions for
storing solar or wind power will greatly help the
cause, but available energy storage technologies
remain prohibitive.