Global Warming: Introduction

Global warming is a long-term increase in the average temperature of the Earth's surface and oceans, primarily
caused by the increase in greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) in the atmosphere
due to human activities. The greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, preventing it from escaping back into
space, and thus causing the Earth's surface temperature to rise. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as the
greenhouse effect. Scientific measurements and models show that the Earth's average surface temperature has
increased by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 19th century, and is projected to continue
to rise by up to several degrees Celsius (up to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the 21st century if greenhouse
gas emissions are not reduced. The warming of the Earth's surface and oceans has numerous consequences, including
rising sea levels, changes in precipitation patterns, more frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts, floods, and
extreme weather events, and threats to biodiversity and human well-being.
Global Warming : A Enginners Approach

Global warming is the most important present day environmental issue. It is more than the gradual increase of
average temperatures. Global warming is the direct result of human progression and its consequences, such as the
rise in sea levels and the loss of biodiversity, are becoming prevalent. The primary objective of this research paper is
to analyze the causes and effects that global warming has on the environment resulting from the release of excess
amounts of greenhouse gases as well as to compare and contrast many aspects of renewable energy solutions.

The greenhouse gases of carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide trap
some of the solar radiation entering Earth’s atmosphere. Though necessary for life, the presence of greenhouse
gasses have resulted in an increase of global temperatures. The International Energy Agency has projected this
increase to be as great as 6 degrees Celsius resulting in an intensification of desertification and a loss of biodiversity.

Since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, about 600 thousand million tons of carbon dioxide
have been released into the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels for electricity and transportation, leading to
a 30% increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, where it can reside for up to 50 years. At
the start of the Industrial Revolution, humans were not aware of the damages they were doing to the environment.

The need for advances in clean, renewable energy is a necessity as the effects of global warming
become permanent. At the rate of current fossil fuel usage, such energy sources will be depleted within the next
century due to their short lifespan. Renewable energies, in the form of solar, biomass, wind, hydropower, and
geothermal energy, are paving the way to a more sustainable lifestyle. Breakthroughs in these fields will contribute
to the lessening of the negative impacts of global warming.

The study of the effects of global warming and possible engineering solutions involving renewable energy would fit
the call in the graduate division and it is consistent with the division objectives. Consistent with the objective above,
the subject matter of global warming is multidisciplinary and directly related to engineering education. Engineering
educators and engineering students must be aware of the impacts of global warming and the causes such as
transportation, electricity generation, industrial waste, nuclear waste, and many other relevant existing technologies
that contribute to global warming. It is essential for future generations to be educated in this field. Awareness that
our research paper related to the mentioned topic will definitely direct it towards this aim. Specifically, creating a
carbon free environment that is sustainable and cost effective should reduce global warming.
Causes of Global Warming
Climate change is the direct result of human progression. Population increase has led to the need for more materials,
mass production, and more food in order to sustain the growing number of people present. To fully understand what
is happening to Earth, it is necessary to look back at the source of the problem.

Since the start of the 20th century, human population has skyrocketed. The world population growth rate for around
800 years prior to this time was rather stagnant, averaging only about 0.1% growth a year.18 In the 20th century
alone, the human population roughly quadrupled.3 At the start of the 19th century, human population exceeded 1
billion for the first time in history.3 It took only 120 years after this for the global population to hit 2 billion in
1920.3 In 1960, population hit 3 billion; 4 billion by 1974; 5 billion by 1987; 6 billion by 1999; and 7 billion by
2011.3 In fact, the world population is expected to surpass 9 billion by 2045.3 .

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, human birth and death rates were both high resulting in a low population increase.
This changed when death rates began to drop as birth rates rose.3 For starters, with the Industrial Revolution came
much agricultural advancement. More food was being produced due to new methods of farming including crop
rotation and better technology some of which improved irrigation. Selective breeding made the average size of each
farm animal increase, making meat plentiful and easily accessible. This increased crop and meat yield led to a
decrease in famines and an all-around healthier diet for people, thus increasing life expectancy. Medical care, as well
as sanitation, improved, thereby greatly decreasing the number of deaths associated with disease and illness22 and
the use of vaccinations greatly decreased infant mortality.3 The greater crop yield lessened the need for farmers and
the industrial revolution opened many jobs in factories resulting in urbanization. Many young people attracted by the
higher wages and the jobs available in factories migrated to big cities. This concentration of young adults made it a
lot easier to find a partner and start a family.22 The increase of people getting married and having large families
along with an increase in life expectancy and decrease in death rates, led to the population boom witnessed in the
20th century. As the human population grew, so did the demand for fuel, food, and space, in turn, leaving a strain on
the environment.

The demand for fuel during the Industrial Revolution led to the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are the heated and
pressurized remains of deceased plants and animals that have been buried under Earth’s surface for millions of years.
Since these remains are organic matter, carbon makes up most of their mass. Thus, when fossil fuels combust in the
presence of oxygen from the atmosphere, the reaction yields carbon dioxide (CO2) as one of its products, which is a
leading greenhouse gas.
 The greenhouse effect is the driving force behind life on Earth. The greenhouse gases of carbon dioxide, water
vapor, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide trap some of the solar radiation entering Earth’s atmosphere. Without the
presence of these gases, Earth’s average surface temperature would be about -6 degrees Celsius which is not suitable
for most life on Earth. Though necessary for life as we know it, the greenhouse effect has recently been doing too
well of a job in trapping heat. Since the start of the industrial revolution in the 18th century, about 600 thousand
million tons of carbon dioxide have been released into the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels for
electricity and transportation leading to a 30% increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The
danger behind this gas’s large emission numbers is that it stays in the atmosphere for at least 50 years.12 These
greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere at a rate much faster than Earth’s natural processes can remove
them, resulting in global warming.

About 80% of all primary energy used in the world is derived from fossil fuels. The most commonly used forms of
fossil fuels are oil, coal, and natural gas. This energy is used for everything from heating to transportation to
electricity. In 2010, an average of about 85 million barrels of oil were used per day. The need for fossil fuels is
increasing rapidly and is projected to be around 300 million barrels of oil used per day by 2100.11 Not only does this
form of energy increase the rate at which global warming is happening, but it is also available in a finite amount;
therefore, as our dependence on fossil fuels increases, the fossil fuels available deplete. Since fossil fuels are such a
large part of our economy and standard of living, it is clear to see why greenhouse gas emissions have increased
since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

The growing need for more food and space that is associated with the world’s growing population can be portrayed
through the deforestation of Earth’s tropical rain forests. Reasons for deforestation include accommodations for
increased urban sprawl, logging, highways, money, and agriculture. Most of the land cleared goes to agriculture.
Slash and burn techniques for clearing forests are common for plantations.11 This technique, however, is very
unsustainable being that it releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and aerosols into the atmosphere. Tropical
deforestation accounts for 25% of the carbon released into the atmosphere. This release of carbon dioxide comes
from the burning of the above ground biomass and by the release of carbon from the soil. During the cultivation
phase, soil organic carbon levels can decline by up to 30% in the top meter of soil.21 Through deforestation, the
possible carbon storage in trees is eliminated and evapotranspiration is decreased. In fact, the complete deforestation
of the tropics would result in a heating that is equivalent to that caused by the burning of fossil fuels since the year
1850. Not only would temperatures increase, but the rainfall in the US Midwest, Northwest, and South would also
decrease during the agricultural seasons, thus negatively impacting crop yield.
 Aside from the release of carbon dioxide, another way that deforestation drives climate change is by increasing the
amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. The soil found in tropical rain forests is naturally very moist. When forests
are cleared, the large tree canopies are no longer present to block the soil from the harsh sun. This results in the
evaporation of the soil water which adds water vapor to the atmosphere, in turn, speeding up the process of global
warming. Even if this wasn’t the case, terrestrial plants absorb 2.3 gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere per year;
therefore, the less trees present, the less of the carbon dioxide that is able to be filter out of the atmosphere, also
leaving negative effects on the atmosphere. With these numbers, it is worrisome to imagine that land the size of 48
football fields is being cleared from tropical rain forest every minute.

The agriculture made from deforestation is even more detrimental to the environment. Agriculture alone accounts
for one fifth of the annual increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions which include carbon dioxide,
methane, and nitrous oxide. Carbon is released when dead organic matter and plants are removed from the soil and
when crop wasted is burned. Nitrous Oxide from agriculture mainly enters the atmosphere through heavily used
nitrogen fertilizers.10 Used to increased crop growth, some of the nitrogen in these fertilizers are taken up by the
crops. The rest leaches into the surrounding surface, gets denitrified, and then is diffused back into the atmosphere,
thus contributing to global warming. The amount of nitrogen absorbed by the crops varies by plant type; however,
wet rice plantations absorbs only about one third of the nitrogen in the fertilizers. Lastly, methane is produce by the
livestock that graze on these pastures. The second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide is
methane. Methane does not get the same publicity that carbon dioxide gets because it is not as plentiful; however,
what is not taken into consideration is the absorption power of methane. Methane absorbs ten times the infrared
energy and heat that carbon dioxide does making it a much more potent gas.15 Livestock like cattle and sheep are a
part of the class of mammals called ruminants. Ruminants have a four-chambered stomach that involve a long
process of regurgitating their food repeatedly in order to digest it through the different stomach chambers. This
process releases methane. The methane is detrimental to our atmosphere given that there are about 1.4 billion cows
in the world and each of those cows produce 70 to 120kg of methane per year.
Effects of Global Warming

One of the main effects of global warming is the rise in sea levels. Over the last twenty years, the ocean has risen at a
rate of about .13 of an inch a year which is nearly double what the natural increase was in the eighty years prior. This
increase in the rate that the sea levels are rising validates the claim that more greenhouse gases are entering the
atmosphere than can be removed. The ocean is responsible for absorbing 80 percent of the excess heat entering the
atmosphere, leading to the three main reasons why the ocean is growing. For starters, when water is heated, its
molecules move farther away from each other, causing it to expand. Regardless of the water being added to the
ocean, the heat itself is causing the same amount of water to take up a lot more space. Another reason for the rise in
sea levels is the melting of the polar ice caps and glaciers. The increase of the global temperature is responsible for
more ice melting in the summer than usual and less snow falling in the winter. The surface of artic ice from the
North Pole has decreased by 10% in the last decade and the thickness of ice above water has decreased by 40%.
Lastly, the major ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland are facing problems similar to the polar ice caps. The heat
melts these ice sheets at a rapid pace and this resulting meltwater acts as a lubricate, causing the ice sheets to move
more quickly to the ocean where the warm water further destroys them. The ocean level has increased in the last
decades by 15 cm and it is expected to rise a meter by 2100.

The consequences of the rise in sea levels is heavily seen from coastal regions and include the contamination of
aquifers, erosion, loss of habitat for many animals and plants, and, lastly, flooding. Coastal cities like Miami, Florida
are already seeing reoccurring cases of severe flooding. In fact, large pumps have been installed in Miami to take out
water from the streets during high tides. Alas, there is only so much water these pumps can take out of the cities,
especially when the warming is expected to accelerate. In fact, at a rising of 30 cm, the saline waters of the ocean are
projected to penetrate the interior of continents by 5-15 km in upside rivers, infecting estuaries and ruining our
drinking water.

The loss of biodiversity is also attributed to global warming. Many species cannot keep up with the rate at which
their environments are changing, resulting in the current extinction rate of 100 species extinctions per million species
each year. This rate is around 100 to 1000 times higher than the backgrounded extinction rate. Biodiversity is
necessary in forming complex ecosystems that provide provisioning services like the production of renewable
resources and regulating services like the lessening of environmental change. Ecological processes in ecosystems
that control the fluxes of energy, nutrients, and organic matter through an environment are made possible by the
presence of biodiversity.4 Scientists, doctors, and researchers also look to plants and animals when trying to come up
with a cure for diseases and sicknesses; therefore, the decrease of biodiversity directly affects human medical
research.
An example of the detrimental effects of a decrease in biodiversity can be witnesses through coral reefs. Coral reefs
are home to over a million different species and provide ecosystem services for over 500 million people. Though
home for such a large variety of animals, coral reefs are very fragile, being affected by the difference of even 1 to 2
degrees’ Celsius change. When temperatures rise, the coral goes into a state of shock and begins to bleach. It expels
the chemical responsible for its pigments and turns completely white. If not stopped in time, the corals die from
bleaching which can in turn cause a cascade of extinctions.6 Cases of coral reef bleaching are becoming increasingly
frequent and are expected to increase in relation to the ocean temperature. The loss of coral reefs will not only leave
millions of animals without homes, but it will also negatively affect the people that rely on this ecosystem for its
services. Ocean acidification is yet another threat to marine life and biodiversity.

The ocean absorbs one third of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere acting like a “sink”. Over the past
250 years, the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased by over 40% from preindustrial levels. This carbon
dioxide is causing the ocean’s pH level to decrease, becoming more acidic. Acidification alters the chemical
speciation and biogeochemical cycles of many elements and compounds. The acidic water is not suitable for many
animals but especially shell forming organisms like oysters, lobsters, and even many planktonic organisms. This is
because ocean acidification lowers the calcium carbonate saturation states of the water which reduces calcification
and growth rates of shell forming marine organisms.8 Since these organisms are the basis for many marine food
chains, ocean acidification has the potential of affecting all animals in the ocean.

Though it is normal for Earth to receive some form of fluctuations, what is not normal is the rate at which these
changes are occurring and the linkage it holds to people.4 Over the past million years as Earth has moved out of ice
ages, the global temperature only rose four to seven degrees Celsius over the course of 5,000 years. Over the past
100 years, the temperature has increased about 0.7 degrees Celsius which is ten times faster than the average rate of
ice age recovery warming. This rate is expected to increase. Predictions estimate that Earth will warm between two
and six degrees Celsius in the next century which is twenty times faster than average.22

These are real, present day, human induced problems. Global warming is much deeper than the simple rise in
temperature. At the start of the industrial revolution, humans were not aware of the damages they were doing to the
environment. Now that this information is exposed, it is time for people to begin to take action. Habitat conservation,
protection of the endangered species list, and advances in clean, renewable energy are more necessary now than ever
before.
The Issue of Global Warming Due to the Modern Misuse
of Techno-Scientific Applications
Climate change has become undeniably one of the most important challenges for our generation and the ones that
follow. This challenge is such that it affects the whole of our space-time spectrum: an urgent reassessment of our
present-day technology is indisputably needed, while at the same time, this challenge also requires the most accurate
knowledge of the shifts in temperature in the hope for a possible and still hypothetical sustainable future. Not only
this, but it will also concern – and already does – the totality of the planet and of its living creatures. The problem
that climate change represents is therefore very wide and has an effect on a very broad range of human activities.
However, in spite of the importance of the historical and global parameters, it appears as if the cause of the rise in
temperature of

our planet is first and foremost technological (because of man-made carbon emissions) and that a technological
solution would consequently be needed.

After all, within the history of technology and science, every once in a while, a notable breakthrough allows for the
betterment of the human condition. Agriculture, electricity, steam engines, atomic science, biotechnology, etc., mark
our timeline. These breakthroughs have enriched the life of many, for the sake of ‘human’ needs, complementing
rather than overcoming the previous techniques and technologies. An example of this complementary use is the
‘Green Revolution’ in which mechanised agriculture played a major role in the 1960s to the 1990s, and that even
saw countries such as Mexico overproducing and therefore exporting some new types of wheat. These past and
contemporary techniques and technologies therefore play a major role in easing our lives. It would therefore be
logical to await for the next techno-scientific generation to revolutionize our routines.

Indeed, the question left unanswered today is the following: what technological breakthrough will come next that
will serve our energy needs? Nanotechnology and biotechnology holds no promise of energy quality or sustainable
energy as much as hydrogen fuel is not yet ready for takeoff and probably needs more investment. Another techno-
scientific revolution is therefore greatly expected. Yet, let’s imagine for an instant, let’s put forward the fantastic
hypothesis that a solution to the production of greenhouse gases has been found, that hydrogen fuel becomes
affordable and marketable, that wind and solar energy can be stored, even on the scale of our planet. The problem at
the origin of global warming would probably be resolved. But would the core of the problem be really solved, the
one of the misuse of technology itself?
Alongside the succession of technological innovations, we also have to acknowledge the succession of catastrophes,
disasters and accidents that constitute our modern history and that are as important to underscore as the techno-
scientific progresses themselves. Fukushima, Chernobyl, as the most devastating technological accidents, as much as
the most inhuman misuse of science in warfare strategies, such as the gas chambers and the atomic bombings. The
binary use of science and technology is evident, even today, within the continuous use of weapons around the world,
the on-going oil spillages, the endless industrial pollution of all types and the uncertainties concerning the safest way
to store radioactive waste for the coming thousands of years.

The binary aspect of technology is in fact recurrent, in its misuse, as much as in human’s unstable control over
nature and even over the technological apparatuses themselves. Consequently, even if we find a technological
solution to the present state of the Earth and to the production of greenhouse gases, will the problem of the misuse of
technology as such be solved? This mishandling and dual use is persistent, as we will detail in this essay, and needs
an appropriate framing. Indeed, what tells us that this misuse will cease to happen once global warming no longer
constitutes a threat to living beings and that another threat will not be in sight in the remote future?

Our current situation therefore needs to be tackled ontologically – that is, to think and underscore the origin of the
problem and of this misuse at large. Through this approach, and by way of consequences, this essay will stand in the
domain of the humanities. The strategy is to understand global warming beyond (and complementary to) the
scientific challenge that it represents in the world today. As unexpected as it may seem, the humanities have already
dedicated much thinking to similar problems and these thoughts are as crucial to consider today as they were
yesterday – for we need to think about global warming from all possible angles. This essay will adopt existing
theoretical, philosophical and artistic frameworks to investigate global warming. These frameworks will permit
tackling the current crisis from a wide variety of angles, such as the recurrence of apocalyptical scenarios, the
emergence of the so-called ‘climate-sceptics’, the absolute urgency to revise the Western project of modernity and
the difficulty in reaching a universal agreement to resolve the problem. Scientific research progressed rapidly in the
past century and a similarly emphasis on the development of thinking in the humanities is now needed, since this
will help in considering possible ways out from the current situation.
Impact Of Electronics Engineering on Global
Warming

Global warming is one of the biggest challenges that we face today. It is caused by the increase of greenhouse gases,
such as carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. These gases trap heat from the sun and cause the planet's temperature to
rise, leading to a range of negative impacts, including sea level rise, extreme weather events, and more. Addressing
global warming requires collective efforts from all sectors of society, and electronics engineering has a significant
role to play in mitigating its effects. In this essay, we will explore how electronics engineering can help prevent
global warming.

Energy consumption: Electronics and telecommunications devices require energy to function. The energy used to
power these devices is often generated by burning fossil fuels, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and
global warming. As the demand for electronics and telecommunications devices continues to grow, the energy
needed to power them will also increase, further contributing to global warming.

E-waste: Electronics and telecommunications devices also contribute to e-waste, which is the discarded electronic
devices that end up in landfills. E-waste is a significant contributor to environmental pollution and global warming.
The production and disposal of electronics and telecommunications devices require energy, which generates
greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change monitoring: Electronics and telecommunications engineering can also be used to monitor climate
change. Sensors and other monitoring devices can be used to gather data on temperature, humidity, and other
climate-related variables. This data can be used to track the impact of global warming and inform decisions about
how to mitigate its effects.

Renewable energy: Electronics and telecommunications engineering can also play a role in the transition to
renewable energy sources. Renewable energy technologies like solar and wind power rely on electronic components,
and telecommunications infrastructure is necessary to connect these systems to the grid and manage energy flows.
Smart grids: Electronics and telecommunications engineering can also help in the development of smart grids. Smart
grids are intelligent power grids that can automatically monitor and adjust the distribution of electricity based on
demand. This can help to reduce energy waste, increase energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Green manufacturing: Electronics and telecommunications engineering can also be used to develop and implement
green manufacturing practices. By improving the efficiency of the manufacturing process, reducing waste, and using
renewable energy sources, the environmental impact of electronics production can be reduced.

Telecommuting: The growth of the telecommunications industry has also led to an increase in remote work
opportunities, which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of traveling to work every day, people can
work from home, reducing the need for transportation and the associated emissions.

Climate modeling: Electronics and telecommunications engineering can also be used in climate modeling. High-
performance computing systems and data analysis tools can be used to simulate climate models, providing insights
into the impact of global warming and potential mitigation strategies.

In conclusion, electronics and telecommunications engineering has both positive and negative impacts on global
warming. While the production and use of electronics can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and e-waste, the
industry can also play an important role in mitigating the effects of global warming through the development of
renewable energy sources, smart grids, and green manufacturing practices. The telecommunications industry can
also support remote work opportunities, reducing transportation emissions. Finally, electronics and
telecommunications engineering can be used to monitor climate change and inform decision-making about
mitigating its effects.
Alternative Source Of Energy
Solar Power Systems (PV) :

Over many centuries, there has been a great increase in the demand for electricity generated specifically from the
solar rays produced by the sun. Countries throughout the world such as Germany, China, and Japan have researched
and generated solar power produced from photovoltaic solar cells. The generation of electricity using these cells
greatly reduces the cost of the production of electricity. Although this method manages to save money, it relies
heavily on the weather conditions and its efficiency may be hindered during specific times, seasons, and locations.
In order to improve on this, many solar panels contain photovoltaic collectors to increase production during times of
naturally low productivity .

An analysis done by Gordon (1987) compared the efficiency involving cost, CO2 yield, and energy production
between photovoltaic systems integrated into building versus a photovoltaic system plant. With a CO2 yield of 2.6
for photovoltaic power plants and a yield of 5.4 for integrated PV systems, it was found that the overall effects of
integrated PV systems were favorable in terms of CO2 yield and energy production.

Wind Power Systems

The use of wind to generate electricity using wind turbine has rapidly increased over the past decades and now
proves to be a promising source of electricity. Wind turbines were first used in the Great Planes to power small
farms and later expanded to the rest of the world. As of now, Denmark and Germany are the leading wind turbine
manufacturers providing more than 20% of their country’s electricity using the power generated from wind turbines.
The main factor that determines the amount of energy produced from the wind turbines is wind speed, causing
energy to increase or decrease substantially. It is proven that while wind speed increases by a factor of two, the
energy produced will increase by a factor of eight leaving wind speed to be the sole determinant of energy
production. Air temperature and density also play a role in determining the amount of energy produced by the wind
turbines.

Recent research done by Ngô and Natowitz (2009) exemplified the drawbacks of wind generated electricity and its
productions. Wind comes and goes at spontaneous strengths leading the energy production to vary throughput the
year. Many wind turbines are located in low populated areas where the wind is stronger forcing the cost of
transportation to increase as the electricity must be transferred to residential.1 Figure 3 displays the total installed
wind capacity in the United States through the end of 2015 (State Blue Map 2015) .

To compare the use of fossil fuel systems to generate electricity, a 1,500 kW wind turbine’s ratios for delivering
electricity were analyzed by Devine (1977) finding that the wind turbine system was able to displace a portion of the
fossil fuel equivalent (.) While Devine studied the efficiency of a wind turbine compared to the energy produced
from a fossil fuel system, Haack (1981) compared the net energy of a small wind conversion system in the United
States to systems that implement fossil fuel generation. He produced a model that assessed wind speeds and 890-70-
9099 electricity demands in rural areas to prove that the net energy produced from the wind turbine was greater than
that produced by other systems.1 Unlike photovoltaic systems, the cost of the wind turbine varies by size, increasing
as the turbine gets larger. This may lead a consumer to utilize the PV system fro small loads and implement the wind
turbine system for more demanding loads.

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is a type of thermal energy that originates from radioactive decay within the earth in
temperatures around 4000 degrees Celsius. It has been used throughout generations to cook, warm waters, and in
heating buildings. Availability of geothermal energy depends highly on location and the geothermal gradient, which
indicates whether a location is a promising area for the production of geothermal energy. This geothermal gradient
measures the rate at which the temperature increases as the depth of the earth increases.1 Geothermal energy
availability also depends on the permeability of rocks, allowing the researcher to analyze the amount of heat that is
able to flow to the surface of the earth. Unlike wind and solar energy, geothermal energy is available at any time
during the day and year.
 In research done by Lund et al. (2005) they analyzed geothermal energy data from 72 countries and came to the
conclusion that using 273,372 terajoule per year of geothermal energy would save 128.9 million barrels of oil given
the assumption that there are 6.06 x 109 joules of energy in a barrel of oil. 1 Figure 4 shows how geothermal energy
was used in Iceland in 2013. 9

Geothermal energy allows for the increase of the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere due to the fact
that there are greenhouse gases below the earth that seep to the surface. Areas where geothermal power plants exist
tend to have higher emission rates leading to an increase in greenhouse gases, such as sulfur dioxide and silica, in the
atmosphere. The construction of these geothermal power plants also takes a toll on the environment as it can affect
the stability of the land surrounding a power plant. This instability may lead to the triggering of an Earthquake such
as the one that took place in January 1997 with a magnitude of 3.4 in Switzerland. The earthquakes are caused by the
hydraulic fracturing process which is essential to the development of a geothermal power plant. The cost to
developing these power plants tend to be high as the drilling of new reservoirs cost around 2 to 7 million dollars fro a
geothermal plant with a capacity of 1 megawatt.

Biomass Energy

Biomass is the oldest source of energy as it originates from animal waste and plant material. Biomass energy is
easily replaced because it has the ability to regrow in a short period of time as opposed to the regeneration of fossil
fuels which takes millions of years. Plants are able to convert the sun’s energy from carbon dioxide into
carbohydrates which burn to release the energy that was taken up from the sun. it is evident in several studies that the
potential for biomass energy will not increase much in the future due to the high cost of production compared to
other forms of renewable energy.

There are many disadvantages to implementing biomass energy such as the release of toxic air pollution, a damage
to ecosystems due to overharvesting, and the over consumption of water. With the development of new technologies
that control the pollution emitted by biomass in industrial facilities, the release of CO2 in the environment is
substantially lesser than the emission of fossil fuel by power plants. The amount of carbon dioxide is also lessened
by the intake of CO2 through photosynthesis by future biomass crops. In 2011, it was discovered that bioenergy was
used as an energy source more than oil in Sweden. The Swedish Energy Agency found that 31.7% of the energy used
was generated from biomass while 30.8% of the energy originated from oil. One of the principal reasons for this
increase in bioenergy is the fact that biomass is the primary energy source in the district heating sector, a sector that
demands more than half of the overall heat demand in residential areas. 7 Figure 5 shows the different sources of
energy in Sweden in 2011 (Sweden Energy Use 2010, May 10).
 Conclusion

The development of the modern world has been dominated by science, engineering and technology and the role of
the engineer is linked closely to the needs of society. Unfortunately engineers are either public relations shy or poor
communicators of their success. As famous scientists tend to develop medicines, they appear to be viewed by society
in a more philanthropic light. The term engineer used in this paper includes any professional scientist, technologist
or engineer who uses her skill sets and training to develop practical real world applications.

The 21st century will be defined by some of the huge challenges now facing humanity. Among these are energy and
food security, competition and scarcity of natural resources, and climate change. This year’s engineering graduates
will face these issues throughout their working careers. The demand for engineering skills is likely to be higher than
ever before in order to deliver sustainable engineering systems, low-carbon energy technologies, and robust physical
infrastructure to protect against geophysical hazards such as sea-level rise and extreme meteorological events.

The development of the modern world has been dominated by science, engineering and technology and the role of
the engineer is linked closely to the needs of society. Unfortunately engineers are either public relations shy or poor
communicators of their success. As famous scientists tend to develop medicines, they appear to be viewed by society
in a more philanthropic light. The term engineer used in this paper includes any professional scientist, technologist
or engineer who uses her skill sets and training to develop practical real world applications.

The 21st century will be defined by some of the huge challenges now facing humanity. Among these are energy and
food security, competition and scarcity of natural resources, and climate change. This year’s engineering graduates
will face these issues throughout their working careers. The demand for engineering skills is likely to be higher than
ever before in order to deliver sustainable engineering systems, low-carbon energy technologies, and robust physical
infrastructure to protect against geophysical hazards such as sea-level rise and extreme meteorological events.