Abstract
Increasing standards of living and rising population numbers are leading to inevitable increases in global energy consumption. Worldwide energy usage is on track to increase by roughly 40% in the next 20 years (Fig. 1) and to nearly double by 2050. This demand could be met, in principle, from fossil energy resources, particularly coal. However, the cumulative nature of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere demands that holding atmospheric CO2 levels to even twice their pre-anthropogenic values by midcentury will require invention, development, and deployment of schemes for carbon-neutral energy production on a scale commensurate with, or larger than, the entire present-day energy supply from all sources combined [1, 2]. In addition to the negative climate impacts associated with burning fossil fuel, significant worldwide competition for these limited resources, and increases in the prices of energy-intensive commodities like fertilizer, are likely to have significant geopolitical and social consequences, making energy an issue of national security.
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Notes
- 1.
This goal was part of the president’s campaign agenda, e.g., see http://change.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment_agenda/.
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Brinker, C.J., Ginger, D. (2011). Nanotechnology for Sustainability: Energy Conversion, Storage, and Conservation. In: Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020. Science Policy Reports, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1168-6_7
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