Climate change and the complexity of solutions for securing energy supply: the global Energy [R]evolution

Abstract

The impact of greenhouse emissions on climate change and the decrease in world fossil energy sources will have significant consequences for the future of the planet. Three major reports (“The Stern Review: the Economics of Climate Change”, October 2006; “Where Will the Energy for Hydrogen Production Come From? Status and Alternatives” by Ludwig-Bolkow-Systemtechnik GmbH—LBST/European Hydrogen Association, 2007; and an updated version of “The Global Energy (R)evolution Scenario” by GWEC-EREC-Greenpeace International, 2013) are analysed in this review. Additional data are supplied by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) report (2013) and its addendum presented in March 2014. They reach the same conclusions about the complexity of the phase-out from the carbon society and the conversion to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.