query: Our children and grandchildren will look back on the climate deniers and ask how they could have sacrificed the planet for the sake of cheap fossil fuel energy, when the cost of inaction exceeds the cost of a transition to a low-carbon economy,’ Watson said.

positive: Low-carbon economy A low-carbon economy ( LCE ) , low-fossil-fuel economy ( LFFE ) , or decarbonised economy is an economy based on low carbon power sources that therefore has a minimal output of greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions into the biosphere , but specifically refers to the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide . GHG emissions due to anthropogenic ( human ) activity are the dominant cause of observed global warming ( climate change ) since the mid-20th century . Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes around the world , increasing the likelihood of severe , pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems .   Many countries around the world are designing and implementing low emission development strategies ( LEDS ) . These strategies seek to achieve social , economic and environmental development goals while reducing long-term greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resilience to climate change impacts .   Globally implemented low-carbon economies are therefore proposed by those having drawn this conclusion , as a means to avoid catastrophic climate change , and as a precursor to the more advanced , zero-carbon economy .

positive: Climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation consists of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change . Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in human ( anthropogenic ) emissions of greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) . Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks , e.g. , through reforestation . Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with human-induced global warming .   According to the IPCC 's 2014 assessment report , `` Mitigation is a public good ; climate change is a case of the ` tragedy of the commons . Effective climate change mitigation will not be achieved if each agent ( individual , institution or country ) acts independently in its own selfish interest ( see international cooperation and emissions trading ) , suggesting the need for collective action . Some adaptation actions , on the other hand , have characteristics of a private good as benefits of actions may accrue more directly to the individuals , regions , or countries that undertake them , at least in the short term . Nevertheless , financing such adaptive activities remains an issue , particularly for poor individuals and countries . ''   Examples of mitigation include phasing out fossil fuels by switching to low-carbon energy sources , such as renewable and nuclear energy , and expanding forests and other `` sinks '' to remove greater amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere . Energy efficiency may also play a role , for example , through improving the insulation of buildings . Another approach to climate change mitigation is climate engineering .   Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) . The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of GHGs at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference of the climate system . Scientific analysis can provide information on the impacts of climate change , but deciding which impacts are dangerous requires value judgments .   In 2010 , Parties to the UNFCCC agreed that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 ° C ( 3.6 ° F ) relative to the pre-industrial level . With the Paris Agreement of 2015 this was confirmed , but was revised with a new target laying down `` parties will do the best '' to achieve warming below 1.5 ° C . The current trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions does not appear to be consistent with limiting global warming to below 1.5 or 2 ° C . Other mitigation policies have been proposed , some of which are more stringent or modest than the 2 ° C limit .

positive: Global warming controversy The global warming controversy concerns the public debate over whether global warming is occurring , how much has occurred in modern times , what has caused it , what its effects will be , whether any action should be taken to curb it , and if so what that action should be . In the scientific literature , there is a strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases . No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view , though a few organizations with members in extractive industries hold non-committal positions . Disputes over the key scientific facts of global warming are more prevalent in the media than in the scientific literature , where such issues are treated as resolved , and such disputes are more prevalent in the United States than globally .   Political and popular debate concerning the existence and cause of climate change includes the reasons for the increase seen in the instrumental temperature record , whether the warming trend exceeds normal climatic variations , and whether human activities have contributed significantly to it . Scientists have resolved these questions decisively in favour of the view that the current warming trend exists and is ongoing , that human activity is the cause , and that it is without precedent in at least 2000 years . Public disputes that also reflect scientific debate include estimates of how responsive the climate system might be to any given level of greenhouse gases ( climate sensitivity ) , how global climate change will play out at local and regional scales , and what the consequences of global warming will be .   Global warming remains an issue of widespread political debate , often split along party political lines , especially in the United States . Many of the issues that are settled within the scientific community , such as human responsibility for global warming , remain the subject of politically or economically motivated attempts to downplay , dismiss or deny them -- an ideological phenomenon categorised by academics and scientists as climate change denial . The sources of funding for those involved with climate science -- both supporting and opposing mainstream scientific positions -- have been questioned by both sides . There are debates about the best policy responses to the science , their cost-effectiveness and their urgency . Climate scientists , especially in the United States , have reported official and oil-industry pressure to censor or suppress their work and hide scientific data , with directives not to discuss the subject in public communications . Legal cases regarding global warming , its effects , and measures to reduce it have reached American courts . The fossil fuels lobby has been identified as overtly or covertly supporting efforts to undermine or discredit the scientific consensus on global warming .

negative: 100% renewable energy The endeavor to use 100 % renewable energy for electricity , heating and cooling , and transport is motivated by global warming , pollution and other environmental issues , as well as economic and energy security concerns . Shifting the total global primary energy supply to renewable sources requires a transition of the energy system . In 2013 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that there are few fundamental technological limits to integrating a portfolio of renewable energy technologies to meet most of total global energy demand . Renewable energy use has grown much faster than even advocates anticipated .   In 2014 , renewable sources such as wind , geothermal , solar , biomass , and burnt waste provided 19 % of the total energy consumed worldwide , with roughly half of that coming from traditional use of biomass . The most important sector is electricity with a renewable share of 22.8 % , most of it coming from hydropower with a share of 16.6 % , followed by wind with 3.1 % . There are many places around the world with grids that are run almost exclusively on renewable energy . At the national level , at least 30 nations already have renewable energy contributing more than 20 % of the energy supply .   Professors S. Pacala and Robert H. Socolow of Princeton University have developed a series of `` Climate stabilization wedges '' that can allow us to maintain our quality of life while avoiding catastrophic climate change , and `` renewable energy sources , '' in aggregate , constitute the largest number of their `` wedges . ''   Mark Z. Jacobson , professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and director of its Atmosphere and Energy program , says that producing all new energy with wind power , solar power , and hydropower by 2030 is feasible , and that existing energy supply arrangements could be replaced by 2050 . Barriers to implementing the renewable energy plan are seen to be `` primarily social and political , not technological or economic '' . Jacobson says that energy costs today with a wind , solar , and water system should be similar to today 's energy costs from other optimally cost-effective strategies . The main obstacle against this scenario is the lack of political will .   Similarly , in the United States , the independent National Research Council has noted that `` sufficient domestic renewable resources exist to allow renewable electricity to play a significant role in future electricity generation and thus help confront issues related to climate change , energy security , and the escalation of energy costs ... Renewable energy is an attractive option because renewable resources available in the United States , taken collectively , can supply significantly greater amounts of electricity than the total current or projected domestic demand . ''   The main barriers to the widespread implementation of large-scale renewable energy and low-carbon energy strategies are political rather than technological . According to the 2013 Post Carbon Pathways report , which reviewed many international studies , the key roadblocks are : climate change denial , the fossil fuels lobby , political inaction , unsustainable energy consumption , outdated energy infrastructure , and financial constraints .

negative: Renewable fuels Renewable fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources . Examples include : biofuels ( e.g. Vegetable oil used as fuel , ethanol , methanol from clean energy and carbon dioxide or biomass , and biodiesel ) and Hydrogen fuel ( when produced with renewable processes ) . This is in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas , LPG ( propane ) , petroleum and other fossil fuels and nuclear energy . Renewable fuels can include fuels that are synthesized from renewable energy sources , such as wind and solar . Renewable fuels have gained in popularity due to their sustainability , low contributions to the carbon cycle , and in some cases lower amounts of greenhouse gases . The geo-political ramifications of these fuels are also of interest , particularly to industrialized economies which desire independence from Middle Eastern oil .

negative: Beyond Zero Emissions Beyond Zero Emissions ( BZE ) is an Australia-based , not-for-profit climate change solutions think-tank .   BZE was founded in 2006 by Matthew Wright and Adrian Whitehead under the guidance of Philip Sutton . The group coordinates research and education into how the Australian economy can rapidly reduce human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to ` zero and below ' by implementing changes to stationary energy , transport , buildings , agricultural activities , industrial processes and fossil fuel export sectors .   In 2010 BZE released its first publication , the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan ( Wright , Hearps 2010 ) a research collaboration between Beyond Zero Emissions and the University of Melbourne Energy Research Institute . The aim of the report was to provide a detailed , fully realisable , fully costed 10-year plan to replace all stationary energy needs with 100 % renewable energy sources , using only current proven technologies and engineering . This report addressed the common perception that renewables can not replace fossil fuels , either due to immaturity of the technology or due to cost concerns . The group invited pro-bono contributions from engineers , scientists , and industry specialists to work on this and all subsequent projects , similar to the way open source software is developed .   Since 2006 Beyond Zero Emissions has released the following publications :   Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan ( 2010 ) ,  Repowering Port Augusta ( 2012 ) ,  Health and Social Harms of Mining in Local Communities : Spotlight on the Hunter Region report ( 2012 ) .  Laggard to Leader : How Australia Can Lead the World to Zero Carbon Prosperity ( 2012 )  Zero Carbon Australia Buildings Plan ( 2013 ) ,  Zero Carbon Australia High Speed Rail ( 2014 )  Fossil Economy ( 2014 ) ,  Zero Carbon Australia Land Use - Agriculture and Forestry ( 2014 ) ,  Carbon Capture and Storage Report ( 2014 ) ,  Carbon Crisis : Systemic Risk of Carbon Emission Liabilities report ( 2015 )  Zero Carbon Australia Renewable Energy Superpower ( 2015 ) ,  Zero Carbon Australia Electric Vehicles ( 2016 ) ,   A full list of Beyond Zero Emissions publications is also available with links to free pdf downloads at the BZE website .

negative: Carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) ( or carbon capture and sequestration ) is the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide from large point sources , such as fossil fuel power plants , transporting it to a storage site , and depositing it where it will not enter the atmosphere , normally an underground geological formation . The aim is to prevent the release of large quantities of into the atmosphere ( from fossil fuel use in power generation and other industries ) . It is a potential means of mitigating the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming and ocean acidification . Although has been injected into geological formations for several decades for various purposes , including enhanced oil recovery , the long term storage of is a relatively new concept . The first commercial example was the Weyburn-Midale Carbon Dioxide Project in 2000 . Other examples include SaskPower 's Boundary Dam and Mississippi Power 's Kemper Project . ` CCS ' can also be used to describe the scrubbing of from ambient air as a climate engineering technique .   An integrated pilot-scale CCS power plant was to begin operating in September 2008 in the eastern German power plant Schwarze Pumpe run by utility Vattenfall , to test the technological feasibility and economic efficiency . CCS applied to a modern conventional power plant could reduce emissions to the atmosphere by approximately 80 -- 90 % compared to a plant without CCS . The IPCC estimates that the economic potential of CCS could be between 10 % and 55 % of the total carbon mitigation effort until year 2100 .   Carbon dioxide can be captured out of air or fossil fuel power plant flue gas using adsorption ( or carbon scrubbing ) , membrane gas separation , or adsorption technologies . Amines are the leading carbon scrubbing technology .  Capturing and compressing may increase the energy needs of a coal-fired CCS plant by 25 -- 40 % . These and other system costs are estimated to increase the cost per watt energy produced by 21 -- 91 % for fossil fuel power plants . Applying the technology to existing plants would be more expensive , especially if they are far from a sequestration site . A 2005 industry report suggests that with successful research , development and deployment ( RD&D ) , sequestered coal-based electricity generation in 2025 may cost less than unsequestered coal-based electricity generation today .   Storage of the is envisaged either in deep geological formations , or in the form of mineral carbonates . Deep ocean storage is not currently considered feasible due to the associated effect of ocean acidification . Geological formations are currently considered the most promising sequestration sites . The National Energy Technology Laboratory ( NETL ) reported that North America has enough storage capacity for more than 900 years worth of carbon dioxide at current production rates . A general problem is that long term predictions about submarine or underground storage security are very difficult and uncertain , and there is still the risk that might leak into the atmosphere .

negative: Lithium economy The lithium economy is a concept analogous to other element-based economies , such as the hydrogen economy , methanol economy , ethanol economy , electron economy , vegetable oil economy , or liquid nitrogen economy but where the energy storage medium is lithium . Analogous `` economies '' are the `` aluminium economy '' where the energy storage medium ( fuel ) is aluminium ( typically aluminium-gallium ) .   The hydrogen economy as a low-carbon solution to land transport has problems in generation , distribution ( infrastructure ) , on-board storage and cost of power converter ( fuel cell ) . The lithium economy has analogous problems in all four areas , but considered separately , the routes to their solution have different absolute limits and different timescales for their solutions .   The lithium economy concept is used primarily as a political argument to prevent over-domination of the post-carbon energy future by oil companies ; and as a post-carbon economy on which action can be taken now instead of deferred to some future date ( see FreedomCAR project ) .   The lithium economy differs from the other proposed future fuel economies in that the transition roadmap begins with conventional rechargeable batteries using conventional Li-ion or Lithium polymer cell batteries and progressing to chemistries ( such as Li-S and Li-iron-phosphate ) and cell types with higher energy densities . Eventually , anode replacement Li-air or Li-water cells are envisaged where only anodes ( lithium metal ) are replaced .   The energy is stored in unoxidised lithium atoms , which release energy when oxidised . A lithium atom is seven times as heavy as a hydrogen atom , and at room temperature , hydrogen is a gas , while lithium is solid . This means energy per mass is much worse , but since lithium is much more compact , it has more energy per volume . In fact , storing hydrogen requires so much ancillary equipment or material that lithium is also competitive in energy per mass when the whole system is considered .

negative: Carbon bubble The carbon bubble is a hypothesized bubble in the valuation of companies dependent on fossil-fuel-based energy production , because the true costs of carbon dioxide in intensifying global warming are not yet taken into account in a company 's stock market valuation . Currently the price of fossil fuels companies ' shares is calculated under the assumption that all fossil fuel reserves will be consumed . An estimate made by Kepler Chevreux puts the loss in value of the fossil fuel companies due to the impact of the growing renewables industry at US$ 28 trillion over the next two decades-long . A more recent analysis made by Citi puts that figure at $ 100 trillion .   Analysts in both the petroleum and financial industries are concluding that the `` age of oil '' has already reached a new stage where the excess supply that appeared in late 2014 may continue to prevail in the future .  A consensus appears to be emerging that an international agreement will be reached to introduce measures to constrain the combustion of hydrocarbons in an effort to limit global temperature rise to the nominal 2 ° C that is consensually predicted to limit environmental harm to tolerable levels .   According to the UK 's Committee on Climate Change , overvaluing companies that produce fossil fuels and greenhouse gases poses a serious threat to the economy . The committee warned the British government and Bank of England of the risks of the carbon bubble in 2014 . The following year , Mark Carney , the Governor of the Bank of England , in his lecture to Lloyd 's of London , warned that limiting global warming to 2 ° C appears to require that the `` vast majority '' of fossil fuel reserves be `` stranded '' , or `` literally unburnable without expensive carbon-capture technology '' , resulting in `` potentially huge '' exposure to investors in that sector . He concluded that `` the window of opportunity is finite and shrinking '' for responding to the threat that climate change poses to financial resilience and longer-term prosperity , which he called the `` tragedy of the horizon '' . That same month , the Prudential Regulation Authority of the Bank of England issued a report discussing the risks and opportunities that climate change presents to the insurance industry .   In his speech announcing his denial of the proposal to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline , U.S. President Barack Obama gave as one reason for the decision '' ... ultimately , if we 're going to prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes , we 're going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground ... '' .

negative: Zero-carbon city A zero-carbon city runs entirely on renewable energy ; it has no carbon footprint and will in this respect not cause harm to the planet . Most cities throughout the world produce energy by burning coal , oil and gas , unintentionally emitting carbon . Almost every activity humans do involves burning one of these fossil fuels . To become a zero carbon city , an established modern city must collectively reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to zero and all practices that emit greenhouse gases must cease . Also , renewable energy must supersede other non-renewable energy sources and become the sole source of energy , so a zero-carbon city is a renewable-energy-economy city . This transition which includes decarbonising electricity ( increasing the importance of the sources of renewable electricity ) and zero-emission transport , is undertaken as a response to climate change . Zero-carbon cities maintain optimal living conditions while eliminating environmental impact . Instead of using established cities , many developers are starting from scratch in order to create a zero-carbon city . This way they can make sure every aspect of a city contributes to it being carbon free .

negative: Hydrogen vehicle A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen as its onboard fuel for motive power . Hydrogen vehicles include hydrogen fueled space rockets , as well as automobiles and other transportation vehicles . The power plants of such vehicles convert the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy either by burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine , or by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to run electric motors . Widespread use of hydrogen for fueling transportation is a key element of a proposed hydrogen economy .   , there are 3 hydrogen cars publicly available in select markets ; the Toyota Mirai , the Hyundai ix35 FCEV , and the Honda Clarity . Several other companies are working to develop hydrogen cars . As of 2014 , 95 % of hydrogen is made from natural gas . It can be produced using renewable sources , but that is an expensive process . Integrated wind-to-hydrogen ( power to gas ) plants , using electrolysis of water , are exploring technologies to deliver costs low enough , and quantities great enough , to compete with hydrogen production using natural gas . The drawbacks of hydrogen use are high carbon emissions intensity when produced from natural gas , capital cost burden , low energy content per unit volume , production and compression of hydrogen , and the large investment in infrastructure that would be required to fuel vehicles .

negative: Energy intensity Energy intensity is a measure of the energy efficiency of a nation 's economy . It is calculated as units of energy per unit of GDP .   High energy intensities indicate a high price or cost of converting energy into GDP .  Low energy intensity indicates a lower price or cost of converting energy into GDP .   High energy intensity means high industrial output as portion of GDP . Countries with low energy intensity signifies labor intensive economy ,

negative: Carbon-based fuel Carbon-based fuel is any fuel principally from the oxidation or burning of carbon . Carbon-based fuels are of two main kinds , biofuels and fossil fuels . Whereas biofuels are derived from recent-growth organic matter and are typically harvested , as with logging of forests and cutting of corn , fossil fuels are of prehistoric origin and are extracted from the ground , the principal fossil fuels being oil , coal , and natural gas .   From an economic policy perspective , an important distinction between biofuels and fossil fuels is that only the former is sustainable or renewable .   Whereas we can continue to obtain energy from biofuels indefinitely in principle , the Earth 's reserves of fossil fuels was determined millions of years ago and is therefore fixed as far as our foreseeable future is concerned . The great variability in the ease of extraction of fossil fuels however makes its endgame scenario one of increasing prices over one or more centuries rather than of abrupt exhaustion .   From the perspective of climate and ecology , biofuels and fossil fuels have in common that they contribute to the production of atmospheric carbon dioxide , which has emerged in recent decades as the fastest-changing greenhouse gas , whose principal impacts are global warming and ocean acidification . However biofuels actively participate in the carbon cycle today by photosynthesizing carbon dioxide , unlike fossil fuels whose participation was long ago , and can therefore in principle bring atmospheric CO2 into an equilibrium not possible with the continued use of fossil fuel . But in practice photosynthesis is a slow process , and the additional fuel produced by artificial methods of accelerating it such as application of fertilizer tends to be offset by the energy consumed by the accelerating processes , to a degree currently under active debate . In contrast the speed of photosynthesis is immaterial for fossil fuels because they had millions of years in which to accumulate . Burning of both fossil fuels and biofuels usually also produces carbon monoxide , which is toxic and can kill a person after mixing with the haemoglobin of the blood , increasing its concentration in the body . Biofuels and fossil fuels may also produce many other air pollutants depending on the contents of the fuel .

negative: Carbon-neutral fuel Carbon-neutral fuels can refer to a variety of energy fuels or energy systems which have no net greenhouse gas emissions or carbon footprint . One class is synthetic fuel ( including methane , gasoline , diesel fuel , jet fuel or ammonia ) produced from sustainable or nuclear energy used to hydrogenate waste carbon dioxide recycled from power plant flue exhaust gas or derived from carbonic acid in seawater . Other types can be produced from renewable energy sources such as wind turbines , solar panels , and hydroelectric power stations .  Such fuels are potentially carbon-neutral because they do not result in a net increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases . Until captured carbon is used for plastics feedstock , carbon neutral fuel synthesis is the primary means of carbon capture and utilization or recycling .   To the extent that carbon-neutral fuels displace fossil fuels , or if they are produced from waste carbon or seawater carbonic acid , and their combustion is subject to carbon capture at the flue or exhaust pipe , they result in negative carbon dioxide emission and net carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere , and thus constitute a form of greenhouse gas remediation .   Such power to gas carbon-neutral and carbon-negative fuels can be produced by the electrolysis of water to make hydrogen used in the Sabatier reaction to produce methane which may then be stored to be burned later in power plants as synthetic natural gas , transported by pipeline , truck , or tanker ship , or be used in gas to liquids processes such as the Fischer -- Tropsch process to make traditional fuels for transportation or heating .   Carbon-neutral fuels are used in Germany and Iceland for distributed storage of renewable energy , minimizing problems of wind and solar intermittency , and enabling transmission of wind , water , and solar power through existing natural gas pipelines . Such renewable fuels could alleviate the costs and dependency issues of imported fossil fuels without requiring either electrification of the vehicle fleet or conversion to hydrogen or other fuels , enabling continued compatible and affordable vehicles . A 250 kilowatt synthetic methane plant has been built in Germany and it is being scaled up to 10 megawatts .

negative: Algae fuel Algae fuel , algal biofuel , or algal oil is an alternative to liquid fossil fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils . Also , algae fuels are an alternative to common known biofuel sources , such as corn and sugarcane . Several companies and government agencies are funding efforts to reduce capital and operating costs and make algae fuel production commercially viable . Like fossil fuel , algae fuel releases when burnt , but unlike fossil fuel , algae fuel and other biofuels only release recently removed from the atmosphere via photosynthesis as the algae or plant grew . The energy crisis and the world food crisis have ignited interest in algaculture ( farming algae ) for making biodiesel and other biofuels using land unsuitable for agriculture . Among algal fuels ' attractive characteristics are that they can be grown with minimal impact on fresh water resources , can be produced using saline and wastewater , have a high flash point , and are biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled . Algae cost more per unit mass than other second-generation biofuel crops due to high capital and operating costs , but are claimed to yield between 10 and 100 times more fuel per unit area . The United States Department of Energy estimates that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States , it would require 15000 sqmi , which is only 0.42 % of the U.S. map , or about half of the land area of Maine . This is less than the area of corn harvested in the United States in 2000 .   According to the head of the Algal Biomass Organization , algae fuel can reach price parity with oil in 2018 if granted production tax credits . However , in 2013 , Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said that after committing to spend up to $ 600 million over 10 years on development in a joint venture with J. Craig Venter 's Synthetic Genomics in 2009 , Exxon pulled back after four years ( and $ 100 million ) when it realized that algae fuel is `` probably further '' than 25 years away from commercial viability . On the other hand , Solazyme , Sapphire Energy , and Algenol , among others have begun commercial sale of algal biofuel in 2012 and 2013 , and 2015 , respectively .

negative: Hydrogen technologies Hydrogen technologies are technologies that relate to the production and use of hydrogen . Hydrogen technologies are applicable for many uses .   Some hydrogen technologies are carbon neutral and could have a role in preventing climate change and a possible future hydrogen economy . Hydrogen is a widely used chemical used in various applications including ammonia production , oil refining and energy . Hydrogen is not a primary energy source , because it is not naturally occurring as a fuel . It is , however widely regarded as an ideal energy storage medium , due to the ease with which electric power can convert water into its hydrogen and oxygen components through electrolysis and can be converted back to electrical power using a fuel cell . There are a wide number of different types of fuel and electrolysis cells .   The potential environmental impact depends primarily on the methods used to generate the hydrogen fuel .

negative: Sustainable transport Sustainable transport refers to the broad subject of transport that is sustainable in the senses of social , environmental and climate impacts and the ability to , in the global scope , supply the source energy indefinitely . Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road , water or air transport ; the source of energy ; and the infrastructure used to accommodate the transport ( roads , railways , airways , waterways , canals and terminals ) . Another component for evaluation is pipelines for transporting liquid or gas materials . Transport operations and logistics as well as transit-oriented development are also involved in evaluation . Transportation sustainability is largely being measured by transportation system effectiveness and efficiency as well as the environmental and climate impacts of the system .   Short-term activity often promotes incremental improvement in fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions controls while long-term goals include migrating transportation from fossil-based energy to other alternatives such as renewable energy and use of other renewable resources . The entire life cycle of transport systems is subject to sustainability measurement and optimization .   Sustainable transport systems make a positive contribution to the environmental , social and economic sustainability of the communities they serve . Transport systems exist to provide social and economic connections , and people quickly take up the opportunities offered by increased mobility , with poor households benefiting greatly from low carbon transport options . The advantages of increased mobility need to be weighed against the environmental , social and economic costs that transport systems pose .   Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment , accounting for between 20 % and 25 % of world energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions . The majority of the emissions , almost 97 % , came from direct burning of fossil fuels . Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing at a faster rate than any other energy using sector . Road transport is also a major contributor to local air pollution and smog .   The United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) estimates that each year 2.4 million premature deaths from outdoor air pollution could be avoided . Particularly hazardous for health are emissions of black carbon , a component of particulate matter , which is a known cause of respiratory and carcinogenic diseases and a significant contributor to global climate change . The links between greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter make low carbon transport an increasingly sustainable investment at local level -- both by reducing emission levels and thus mitigating climate change ; and by improving public health through better air quality .   The social costs of transport include road crashes , air pollution , physical inactivity , time taken away from the family while commuting and vulnerability to fuel price increases . Many of these negative impacts fall disproportionately on those social groups who are also least likely to own and drive cars . Traffic congestion imposes economic costs by wasting people 's time and by slowing the delivery of goods and services .   Traditional transport planning aims to improve mobility , especially for vehicles , and may fail to adequately consider wider impacts . But the real purpose of transport is access - to work , education , goods and services , friends and family - and there are proven techniques to improve access while simultaneously reducing environmental and social impacts , and managing traffic congestion . Communities which are successfully improving the sustainability of their transport networks are doing so as part of a wider programme of creating more vibrant , livable , sustainable cities .

negative: Economics of nuclear power plants The economics of new nuclear power plants is a controversial subject , since there are diverging views on this topic ( particularly around risk externalities involving disaster , cleanup , proliferation , disposal and resource conflict ) , and multibillion-dollar investments ride on the choice of an energy source .   New nuclear power plants typically have high capital costs for building the first several plants , after which costs tend to fall for each additional plant built as the supply chains develop and the regulatory processes settle down . Fuel , operational , and maintenance costs are relatively small components of the total cost . The long service life and high productivity of nuclear power plants allow sufficient funds for ultimate plant decommissioning and waste storage and management to be accumulated , with little impact on the price per unit of electricity generated . Additionally , measures to mitigate climate change such as a carbon tax or carbon emissions trading , would favor the economics of nuclear power over fossil fuel power .   Nuclear power construction costs have varied significantly across the world and in time . Massive and rapid increases in cost occurred in the 1970s , especially in the US , but these trends were much milder in other countries . There were no construction starts of nuclear power reactors between 1979 and 2012 in the US , and recent cost trends in countries such as Japan and Korea have been very different , including periods of stability and decline in cost .   In more economically developed countries , a slowdown in electricity demand growth in recent years has made large-scale power infrastructure investments difficult . Very large upfront costs and long project cycles carry large risks , including political decision making and intervention such as regulatory ratcheting . In Eastern Europe , a number of long-established projects are struggling to find finance , notably Belene in Bulgaria and the additional reactors at Cernavoda in Romania , and some potential backers have pulled out . Where cheap gas is available and its future supply relatively secure , this also poses a major problem for clean energy projects . Former Exelon CEO John Rowe said in 2012 that new nuclear plants in the US `` do n't make any sense right now '' and wo n't be economic as long as gas prices remain low .   Current bids for new NPP 's in China have fallen below $ 2000/kW in 2016 , as China continues its accelerating new build program after the pause following the Fukushima meltdowns . Therefore , comparison with other power generation methods is strongly dependent on assumptions about construction timescales and capital financing for nuclear plants .   Analysis of the economics of nuclear power must take into account who bears the risks of future uncertainties . To date all operating nuclear power plants were developed by state-owned or regulated utility monopolies where many of the risks associated with political change and regulatory ratcheting were borne by consumers rather than suppliers . Many countries have now liberalized the electricity market where these risks , and the risk of cheap competition from subsidised energy sources emerging before capital costs are recovered , are borne by plant suppliers and operators rather than consumers , which leads to a significantly different evaluation of the risk of investing in new nuclear power plants .   Two of the four EPRs under construction ( the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in Finland and Flamanville in France ) , which are the latest new builds in Europe , are significantly behind schedule and substantially over cost . Following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster , costs are likely to go up for some types of currently operating and new nuclear power plants , due to new requirements for on-site spent fuel management and elevated design basis threats .

negative: Fossil fuel Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms , containing energy originating in ancient photosynthesis . The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years , and sometimes exceeds 650 million years . Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include petroleum , coal , and natural gas . Other commonly used derivatives include kerosene and propane . Fossil fuels range from volatile materials with low carbon to hydrogen ratios like methane , to liquids like petroleum , to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon , like anthracite coal . Methane can be found in hydrocarbon fields either alone , associated with oil , or in the form of methane clathrates .   The theory that fossil fuels formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth 's crust over millions of years was first introduced by Georgius Agricola in 1556 and later by Mikhail Lomonosov in the 18th century .   The Energy Information Administration estimates that in 2007 the primary sources of energy consisted of petroleum 36.0 % , coal 27.4 % , natural gas 23.0 % , amounting to an 86.4 % share for fossil fuels in primary energy consumption in the world . Non-fossil sources in 2006 included nuclear 8.5 % , hydroelectric 6.3 % , and others ( geothermal , solar , tidal , wind , wood , waste ) amounting to 0.9 % . World energy consumption was growing about 2.3 % per year .   Although fossil fuels are continually being formed via natural processes , they are generally considered to be non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form and the known viable reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being made .   The use of fossil fuels raises serious environmental concerns . The burning of fossil fuels produces around 21.3 billion tonnes ( 21.3 gigatonnes ) of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) per year . It is estimated that natural processes can only absorb about half of that amount , so there is a net increase of 10.65 billion tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide per year . Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that increases radiative forcing and contributes to global warming . A global movement towards the generation of renewable energy is underway to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions .

negative: The Hype about Hydrogen The Hype about Hydrogen : Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate is a book by Joseph J. Romm , published in 2004 by Island Press and updated in 2005 . The book has been translated into German as Der Wasserstoff-Boom . Romm is an expert on clean energy , advanced vehicles , energy security , and greenhouse gas mitigation .   Over 200 publications , including Scientific American , Forbes magazine and The New York Times , have cited this book .  The book was named one of the best science and technology books of 2004 by Library Journal .   The thrust of the book is that hydrogen is not economically feasible to use for transportation , nor will its use reduce global warming , because of the cost and greenhouse gases generated during production , the low energy content per volume and weight of the container , the cost of the fuel cells , and the cost of the infrastructure . The author argues that a major effort to introduce hydrogen cars before 2030 would actually undermine efforts to reduce emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide .

negative: Low carbon leakage Low carbon leakage refers to the phenomenon of a country or a region losing its low carbon industries to another country or region . The underlying low carbon leakage trend can also be identified by looking into clean energy patent distribution around the World . The threat of low carbon leakage to the European Union has been repeatedly expressed by a number of European Politicians such as climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard , UK Energy Secretary Edward Davey and others .   The low carbon leakage increases its relevance for the industrial competitiveness as the low carbon economy grows and has reached in 2013 $ 4 trillion and continues to grow at 4 % per year . Not taking relevant part in this growth opportunity is also considered as low carbon leakage .   In October 2014 E&Y published a report `` European Low Carbon Industries . A Health Check . '' specifically examining the state of the European low carbon sectors . The report lists a wide variety of cases in which `` low carbon leakage '' occurs or could occur .   Low carbon leakage could lead to a significant loss of competitiveness for Europe . According to former German federal minister Trittin : `` In reality there is no carbon leakage . The danger of low carbon leakage is much more real . '' I typical example is the solar panel manufacturing that has developed rapidly in China and shrunk in Europe .

negative: Co-benefits of climate change mitigation Co-benefits of climate change mitigation as defined in the 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are the positive benefits related to the reduction of greenhouse gases . Examples of such climate mitigation policies include improved energy efficiency of plants , renewable energy uptake and fuel switching which might enable a range of co-benefits such as air-pollution impacts , technological innovation , energy-supply security through increased energy diversity , reduced fuel cost and employment possibilities .

negative: Danny Kennedy (environmentalist) Danny Kennedy ( born February 24 , 1971 ) is a clean-technology entrepreneur , an environmental activist , and the author of the book Rooftop Revolution : How Solar Power Can Save Our Economy -- and Our Planet -- from Dirty Energy ( 2012 ) . Kennedy serves as managing director of the California Clean Energy Fund , an non-profit dedicated to optimising the clean energy transition . He co-founded Sungevity , a rapidly growing residential solar power company , and Powerhouse , the primer solar incubator in Oakland . While at Sungevity , Kennedy won a Planet Forward Innovator of the Year award from the PBS program Planet Forward .

negative: Molten carbonate fuel cell Molten-carbonate fuel cells ( MCFCs ) are high-temperature fuel cells that operate at temperatures of 600 ° C and above .   Molten carbonate fuel cells ( MCFCs ) are currently being developed for natural gas , biogas ( produced as a result of anaerobic digestion or biomass gasification ) , and coal-based power plants for electrical utility , industrial , and military applications . MCFCs are high-temperature fuel cells that use an electrolyte composed of a molten carbonate salt mixture suspended in a porous , chemically inert ceramic matrix of beta-alumina solid electrolyte ( BASE ) . Since they operate at extremely high temperatures of 650 ° C ( roughly 1,200 ° F ) and above , non-precious metals can be used as catalysts at the anode and cathode , reducing costs .   Improved efficiency is another reason MCFCs offer significant cost reductions over phosphoric acid fuel cells ( PAFCs ) . Molten carbonate fuel cells can reach efficiencies approaching 60 % , considerably higher than the 37 -- 42 % efficiencies of a phosphoric acid fuel cell plant . When the waste heat is captured and used , overall fuel efficiencies can be as high as 85 % .   Unlike alkaline , phosphoric acid , and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells , MCFCs do n't require an external reformer to convert more energy-dense fuels to hydrogen . Due to the high temperatures at which MCFCs operate , these fuels are converted to hydrogen within the fuel cell itself by a process called internal reforming , which also reduces cost .   Molten carbonate fuel cells are not prone to poisoning by carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide -- they can even use carbon oxides as fuel -- making them more attractive for fueling with gases made from coal . Because they are more resistant to impurities than other fuel cell types , scientists believe that they could even be capable of internal reforming of coal , assuming they can be made resistant to impurities such as sulfur and particulates that result from converting coal , a dirtier fossil fuel source than many others , into hydrogen . Alternatively , because MCFCs require CO2 be delivered to the cathode along with the oxidizer , they can be used to electrochemically separate carbon dioxide from the flue gas of other fossil fuel power plants for sequestration .   The primary disadvantage of current MCFC technology is durability . The high temperatures at which these cells operate and the corrosive electrolyte used accelerate component breakdown and corrosion , decreasing cell life . Scientists are currently exploring corrosion-resistant materials for components as well as fuel cell designs that increase cell life without decreasing performance .

negative: Overnight Capital Cost Overnight capital cost is a term typically used in the power generation industry to describe the cost of building a power plant overnight . The term is useful to compare the economic feasibility of building various plants . The overnight capital cost does not take into account financing costs or escalation , and hence is not an actual estimate of construction cost .   Investors in the energy industry typically look to the Levelized Cost of Energy ( LCOE ) for comparing generation technologies ( e.g. solar power , natural gas ) in the long term , as it includes ongoing fuel , maintenance , and operation costs . The U.S. Department of Energy tracks and makes publicly available levelized cost of energy figures for competing technologies . These figures will vary substantially in other countries due to different energy policies and domestic energy sources .

negative: Copper in renewable energy Renewable energy sources such as solar , wind , tidal , hydro , biomass , and geothermal have become significant sectors of the energy market . The rapid growth of these sources in the 21st century has been prompted by increasing costs of fossil fuels as well as their negative environmental impacts . While the average capacity of renewable energy sources was only 7 % globally in 2010 , most installation of new capacity has been with renewables . Few new installations were from fossil fuel-based power plants . The trend towards new power capacity by renewables is expected to continue through 2020 . Since renewable energy supplies offset the amount of fossil fuels that need to be combusted in power plants , the use of renewables indirectly helps to reduce CO2 emissions . Hence , renewable energy supplies enable societies to progress towards lower-carbon-based economies .   Copper plays an important role in renewable energy systems . Since copper is an excellent thermal and electrical conductor among the engineering metals ( second only to silver ) , power systems that utilize copper generate and transmit energy with high efficiency and with minimum environmental impacts . By using copper instead of other lower electrical energy-efficient metal conductors , less electricity needs to be generated to satisfy a given power demand .   This article discusses the role of copper in various renewable energy generation systems .

negative: Low-carbon fuel standard A low-carbon fuel standard ( LCFS ) is a rule enacted to reduce carbon intensity in transportation fuels as compared to conventional petroleum fuels , such as gasoline and diesel . The most common low-carbon fuels are alternative fuels and cleaner fossil fuels , such as natural gas ( CNG and LPG ) . The main purpose of a low-carbon fuel standard is to decrease carbon dioxide emissions associated with vehicles powered by various types of internal combustion engines while also considering the entire life cycle ( `` well to wheels '' ) , in order to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation .   The first low-carbon fuel standard mandate in the world was enacted by California in 2007 , with specific eligibility criteria defined by the California Air Resources Board ( CARB ) in April 2009 but taking effect in January 2011 . Similar legislation was approved in British Columbia in April 2008 , and by European Union which proposed its legislation in January 2007 and which was adopted in December 2008 . The United Kingdom is implementing its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation Program , which also applies the concept of low-carbon fuels .   Several bills have been proposed in the United States for similar low-carbon fuel regulation at a national level but with less stringent standards than California . As of early 2010 none have been approved . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) issued its final rule regarding the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard ( RFS2 ) for 2010 and beyond on February 3 , 2010 . This ruling , as mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 ( EISA ) , included direct emissions and significant indirect emissions from land use changes .

negative: Vote Climate U.S. PAC Vote Climate U.S. PAC is an American super PAC founded in 2013 and directed by American political activist Karyn Strickler . Its mission is `` to elect candidates to get off fossil fuels , transition to clean , renewable energy and put a price on carbon , in order to slow global warming and related weather extremes . '' Strickler has named the implementation of a carbon tax as a principal goal . As a super PAC ( a type of political action committee ) , the organization can not contribute to candidates but can make independent expenditures on their behalf .

negative: Methanol economy The methanol economy is a suggested future economy in which methanol and dimethyl ether replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage , ground transportation fuel , and raw material for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products . It offers an alternative to the proposed hydrogen economy or ethanol economy .   In the 1990s , Nobel prize winner George A. Olah advocated a methanol economy ; in 2006 , he and two co-authors , G. K. Surya Prakash and Alain Goeppert , published a summary of the state of fossil fuel and alternative energy sources , including their availability and limitations , before suggesting a methanol economy .   Methanol can be produced from a wide variety of sources including still-abundant fossil fuels ( natural gas , coal , oil shale , tar sands , etc. ) as well as agricultural products and municipal waste , wood and varied biomass . It can also be made from chemical recycling of carbon dioxide .

negative: Privatization in the United States State , county , and city economies are constantly challenged in running government operations . A government-run sector may transfer the responsibility for carrying out the service and/or resource management activities and responsibilities to the private sector .   Privatization can be a solution for dealing with particularly problematic aspects within a government 's administration . Often municipalities will turn to privatization to solve an issue . A city or county may , for example , have vehicle maintenance cost increases that exceed revenues consistently and look to privatization as a means of controlling increasing costs . It may not , however , address other factors that are contributing to the cost increases or revenue shortfalls , such as regulation . Over time , compensation , for instance , could be a problem that also applies to other aspects of the government .

negative: Individual action on climate change Making various personal choices has been advocated as a means of fighting climate change .   A carbon diet is an effective way to understand the amount of impact on the environment and how to make meaningful changes .  A low carbon diet is a way of reducing impact by choosing food that causes much less pollution .  Trees : Protecting forests and planting new trees contributes to the absorption of carbon dioxide from the air . There are many opportunities to plant trees in the yard , along roads , in parks , and in public gardens . In addition , some charities plant fast-growing trees -- for as little as $ US0 .10 per tree -- to help people in tropical developing countries restore the productivity of their lands . Conversely , clearing old-growth forests adds to the carbon in the atmosphere , so buying non-old-growth paper is good for the climate as well as the forest .  Labels : The Energy Star label can be seen on many household appliances , home electronics , office equipment , heating and cooling equipment , windows , residential light fixtures , and other products . Energy Star products use less energy .  Travel :  In the United States , perception towards climate change influenced people to change their travel lifestyle . More than a third of Americans have changed their travel habits in 2008 , versus only 14 % in 2007 .  Cars : Purchasing a vehicle which gets high gas mileage helps to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide .  Flying : Avoiding air travel and particularly frequent flyer programs has a high benefit because the convenience makes frequent , long distance travel easy , and high-altitude emissions are more potent for the climate than the same emissions made at ground level .  Walking and running are among the least environmentally harmful modes of transportation , followed by the bicycle .  Many energy suppliers in various countries worldwide have options to purchase part or pure `` green energy . '' The wind energy produced in Denmark , for example , provides about 20 percent of the country 's total electricity needs . These methods of energy production emit no greenhouse gases once they are up and running .  Carbon offsets : The principle of carbon offset is thus : one decides that they do n't want to be responsible for accelerating climate change , and they 've already made efforts to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions , so they decide to pay someone else to further reduce their net emissions by planting trees or by taking up low-carbon technologies . Every unit of carbon that is absorbed by trees -- or not emitted due to your funding of renewable energy deployment -- offsets the emissions from their fossil fuel use . In many cases , funding of renewable energy , energy efficiency , or tree planting -- particularly in developing nations -- can be a relatively cheap way of making an individual `` carbon neutral '' . Carbon offset providers -- some as inexpensive as US$ 0.11 per metric ton ( USD 0.10 per US ton ) of carbon dioxide -- are referenced below under Lifestyle Action .

negative: Mark Z. Jacobson Mark Zachary Jacobson ( born 1965 ) is professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and director of its Atmosphere and Energy Program . Jacobson develops computer models about the effects of different energy technologies and their emissions on air pollution and climate . He has done influential research on the role of aerosols and black carbon on the climate and is regarded as a leading aerosol climate modeler .   According to Jacobson , a speedy transition to clean , renewable energy is required to reduce the potential acceleration of global warming , including the disappearance of the Arctic Sea ice . This change will also eliminate 2.5 -- 3 million deaths worldwide each year , related to air pollution , and reduce disruption associated with fossil fuel shortages .

negative: SolarCity Linz The solarCity is an energy-saving living district in Linz-Pichling , Austria , which provides living space for about 4,000 people . The houses were built using a low-energy design . The idea and motivation for providing energy efficient living arrangements stems from the fact that fossil fuels contribute to global warming and that their use should therefore be avoided .  Planning of the project began in 1992 . Since 1999 , 1,300 apartments were gradually built during a 6-year period . The total cost of the project amounted to 190 million euros . Nearly two-thirds of which was used for the residential building , and only a third of the total cost was due to infrastructure .

negative: Cost competitiveness of fuel sources The Cost competitiveness of fuel sources is a measure of whether or not particular fuel sources are cost competitive in the energy market , and is a primary factor in determining if a fuel source will be utilized . If a fuel source can be produced and sold lower than the price crude oil is being traded at , including taxes , then it is considered to be a cost competitive fuel source .

negative: Low-carbon power Low-carbon power comes from processes or technologies that , produce power with substantially lower amounts of carbon dioxide emissions than is emitted from conventional fossil fuel power generation . It includes low carbon power generation sources such as wind power , solar power , hydropower and , including fuel preparation and decommissioning , nuclear power . The term largely excludes conventional fossil fuel plant sources , and is only used to describe a particular subset of operating fossil fuel power systems , specifically , those that are successfully coupled with a flue gas carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) system .