
41Introduction to Sustainable Energy
© 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
the fossil energy supply that producers are planning to bring to the market. This level of
CO
2
evolution would leave no uncertainty of catastrophic climate disruption.
The carbon emissions per unit of energy for the three fossil fuel products are
• Natural gas 18.3 MJ/kg CO
2
• Gasoline 16.1 MJ/kg CO
2
• Coal (average) 8.2 MJ/kg CO
2
TABLE 1.6
Abbreviated History of Climate Science and the Atmospheric Concentration of the Greenhouse
Gas Most Directly Associated with Energy Use from Fossil Fuels
Date Parties Statement
Atmospheric CO
2
(ppm)
1896 Svante Arrhenius,
Swedish Scientist ...