3.2 The transition to sustainable energy sources

• Aardrijkskunde
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Today

Recap 3.1 (5 min.)

3.2 Transition to sustainable energy sources (15 min.)

Time to work on your assignment (40 min.)

Learning objectives Ch3.1

• You know a number of facts which demonstrate the Earth is warming up.
• You understand why the Earth is warming up and what consequences that has for life on Earth.
• You can identify a number of areas where climate change is visible.

IPCC: Global warming due to mankind

Back in the day

Present day

Unequally distributed

How many companies provide 71% of the total CO2 emissions in the world?
100 companies

The richest 1% of the world population emits as much CO2 as the poorest half of the world.
The richest 20% of the world population is responsible for two thirds of all CO2 emissions.

Learning objectives 3.2

• You know what the most important traditional energy sources are.
• You know that the energy consumption per capita and the carbon footprint increased explosively for years.
• You understand why traditional energy sources are not sustainable and why an energy transition is needed.
• You can use a cross-section to decide whether natural gas and crude oil extractions are possible with conventional techniques.

Fossil fuels: fuels that originated from plants and animals

Examples: brown coal, coal, crude oil, natural gas

Conventional and Unconventional

Unconventional: fracking

Nuclear energy

Nuclear energy is a subject that is a bit dodgy. 

People do not like this form of energy because it emits deadly radioactivity.

From traditional to sustainable energy sources

For many years, energy consumption per capita and therefore the carbon footprint per capita (also known as carbon emission per capita) was increasing explosively

Reason -> a growing population became wealthier.

More wealth means more productions of goods, which will result in more CO2 emissions.

# You know that the energy consumption per capita and the carbon footprint increased explosively for years.

The climate seems confused. In some cities, it is sometimes impossible to go out on the streets for weeks because of the extreme heat and air pollution.

The energy consumption per capita and the carbon footprint per capita has increased enormously. What are the causes of this?

• growing population
• increasing prosperity

Energy transition: From fossil fuels to energy sources that do not run out (=renewable) and that have zero CO2 emissions.

Energy transition

Paris agreement (2015): 196 countries decided at the climate conference to limit global warming to well below two degrees relative to the pre-industrial level.

Energy transition

Continue to work on the assignment 

Next week

3.3 The battle against climate change