Energy, Environment and Climate Change

A novel textbook that answers the growing need for understanding how energy supply and consumption are linked with human welfare as well as economic growth and development. Since the beginning of time, human society has evolved through the use of various forms of energy including the burning of wood once our ancestors learned how to light a fire and then to the modern age when fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable sources of energy have become part of the world’s energy picture. What makes the subject of energy even more important are the environmental impacts of energy production and use, and now that the science of climate change has shown us the link between increase of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere and climate change, energy decisions need to respond to the global imperative of dealing with the challenge of climate change. The text also covers the historical evolution of energy production and use and the market as well as non-market forces which have brought about change over time. Special emphasis has been provided on changes in energy supply and expectations for the future, including solutions to the problem of energy poverty and lack of access to modern forms of energy for a large section of the human population. Following this is a detailed presentation of what human society and economic growth are doing to the earth’s environment in respect of land and soil, forests and biodiversity, all the bodies of water across the globe and the air that we breathe. The book also presents regulatory and other institutional structures by which the global commons and environmental quality are addressed effectively. Both quantitative and qualitative aspects of environmental damage and degradation are covered in depth.

The third part of the textbook deals with the science of climate change and how human society has been responsible for changing the earth’s climate, and what can be projected unless we deal with this challenge effectively. Some of the growing impacts of climate change are discussed in detail followed by solutions and the reduction of risks to human society and all living species through a set of adaptation and mitigation measures.