Energy

The book shows how the world evolved to its present state in which humans exercise a powerful influence on global environmental change and emphasises our increasing reliance on fossil sources of energy; coal, oil and natural gas, and the problems that we face such as increases in the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.The challenge now is to move to a new energy economy in which fossil fuels will play a smaller role so reducing our dependence on unreliable sources such as oil. The book concludes with a discussion of options for a more sustainable energy future, highlighting the potential for contributions from wind, sun, biomass, geothermal and nuclear, supplanting currently unsustainable reliance on coal, oil and natural gas.