Global Warming and Green Technology
According to a recent Report of McKinsey an estimated investment of $ 2 trillion annually will be required in five major areas of green technology by 2025 in order to achieve the net zero target by European countries alone in order to reduce 5 GtCO2e abatement by 2050. — Dr. Dhanpat Ram Agarwal
Green tech is for mitigation and adaptation to the changes emanating from climate change and decarbonisation. Therefore there are two aspects of green technology one is to face the resultants which have already been caused due to the global warming which has hitherto already occurred in the atmosphere over the last two century since the beginning of the industrialisation by adaptation and the other one to mitigate the future challenges by decarbonisation.
The IPCC AR-6 Report is the authentic and reliable evidence of the human induced increase in temperature of Mother Earth by about one degree Celsius and its impact on melting of glaciers, cyclones, drought, floods and on human life, animal life, plant life including the impact on bio-diversity and the agricultural output.
There are however certain natural phenomena which affect global warming. El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warning of surface water in the eastern Pacific- Ocean. El Niño and La Niña are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean and the same can affect weather worldwide. Generally, El Niño and La Niña occur every five years and El Niño is more frequent than La Niña. However, the uncertain behaviour of El Niño in recent years as per the expert views of World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) poses the danger of temperature change and also causes cyclones due to changes of air pressure at sea level in various parts of the world. El Niño and La Niña are natural phenomena and are generally not anthropogenic in origin. Similarly, eruptions of volcanoes are also natural phenomena and not due to any human induced activities.
IPCC Report also tells about the warning about the increasing temperature and therefore suggest to adapt to new green technology in order to limit the temperature by 2050 at maximum tolerance limit of 1.5 degree above the earth temperature which was measured in the pre- industrialised period (1850-1900) at 291 ppm level and is measured at 397 ppm in 2011-2020 and the limit for the maximum allowable temperature if 1.5 degree Celsius is 445 PPM. PPP means carbon particles per molecules. In order to do that it is essential to gradually reduce the use of fossil fuels which is the primary source of the green-house gases. Therefore in order to adapt to the changes required for the impact of the climate change and the increasing level of global warming various measures have been suggested for achieving the Net Zero target by 2050 or latest by 2070 as suggested by India in COP 26 in Glasgow. Indian Prime Minister has promised for a five pronged strategy to be adopted by 2030 popularly named as Panchamrit as mentioned in the diagram below.
Therefore on the one hand the countries need to reduce the green-house gas(GHG) emissions and on the other hand need to create Carbon Sink through forestation and several other means including changing the life style which has to be environment friendly by way of solid waste management, circular economic measures and by restraining the wasteful consumption. In order to adapt to the challenges of the climate change, each country need huge amount of finance and the technology for the alternate sources of renewable energy and also for the investment in the new types of energy efficient automobiles and other machineries, equipment etc.
There are several efforts and initiatives for development of green technologies and mechanisms for decarbonisation that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a low- carbon economy. Renewable energy technologies, such as Solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and bioenergy are some of the sources that can replace fossil fuels for electricity and heating needs. International Solar Alliance is one of the majorinitiatives in this direction.
Improving energy efficiency in buildings, transportation, and industry can reduce energy consumption and associated emissions. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies can capture CO2 emissions from industrial processes and store them underground or reuse them for industrial applications.Electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and biofuels can reduce emissions from transportation.In addition environment friendly life style such as developing the habit of walking and biking can reduce the use of fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
Green hydrogen is a type of hydrogen fuel that is produced using renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power through a process called electrolysis. In electrolysis, water (H2O) is split into its constituent elements of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) using an electrical current.
The adoption of Green Technology involves not only invention of new technology but also huge amount of investment. According to a recent Report of McKinsey an estimated investment of $ 2 trillion annually will be required in five major areas of green technology by 2025 in order to achieve the net zero target by European countries alone in order to reduce 5 GtCO2e abatement by 2050.
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