CHAPTER 22Life Cycle Analysis and Carbon Footprint Reduction
WORLD POPULATION AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Today 7.7 billion people live on our planet [1]. Approximately 70% of all human beings are able to cover their basic needs for food, clothes, living space, medical care, and energy for mobility, heat, and coldness. In comparison, at the time of the French Revolution in 1789, almost 1 billion people lived on our planet, and most of them in extreme poverty. These successes have been made possible thanks to the spectacular advances in the field of science and technology and thanks to the continually growing use of raw materials, resources, and energy. But environmental pollution as well as dwindling fuel and energy resources are the other side of the same coin.
Many problems, such as environmental pollution or the use of raw materials, can be solved. The high energy consumption plus climate warming have the potential of being disastrous for the world.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND GLOBAL WARMING
Energy is quite special. The availability of an adequate amount of energy is necessary for every aspect of our life. The production of food and the recycling of materials are just two out of many examples. Unfortunately, climate change is strongly linked to the wastage of energy.
In the near future, our planet will be inhabited by more than 9 billion people. The high rate of population growth and the substantial rise in prosperity in newly industrialized countries lead to a strong demand for ...
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