The Role of Industry in Fighting Global Warming

Humans are continuously striving to improve in almost every area possible. Although this has seen some incredible feats with regards to breakthroughs in science and international development, it has come at a cost. Industry in all developed nations contributes a huge part of any country’s economy, and without it our world could not continue to function as we know it. The cost, however, is that the energy we rely on to support this world is, in fact, largely responsible for the demise of it. The production and use of fossil fuels such as gasoline, coal, oil and other natural gases all result in the production of carbon dioxide, which directly contributes to the greenhouse effect we are now desperately trying to avoid.  

Heavy industry is not simply factories and shipping, however, there is almost a whole separate economy within it. Some of the largest corporations involved in the energy industry hold a monopoly of the world’s entire wealth. The annual economic contribution of just the liner shipping industry alone in 2007 was 183.3 billion US dollars for instance. With such a huge proportion of the world’s wealth there are of course dangers to be expected when dealing with oil. Many offshore and onshore oil sources have been targeted by pirates and hate crimes, with hostage situations being used to receive huge monetary ransom. And although this has resulted in oil and gas security companies being essential for any overseas oil organisation, there still remains a danger to any person working on site due to the wealth and controversy within the industry.

 Aborting the use of the energy sector altogether is simply not an option, however. This would not only severely harm our global economy, but also leave the world without a sufficient energy source since no suitable alternatives have been found to cope with our global demands. Whereas C02 emissions were forecast to increase by up to 90% from 2007 to 2050, with the adoption of energy efficient technologies there could be a 2.1GtC02 drop.  Through increased awareness of the damage of global warming that is becoming more and more prevalent, there are now certain movements aimed at restricting C02 emissions as much as is possible. Although this is not enough to fully resolve the damage emissions have caused thus far, it is a positive and proactive start.

The use of emission monitoring has been an effective way of controlling the levels of emissions being released into the atmosphere. Continuousemission monitoring systems (CEMS) have been excellent in providing a constant and reliable way of controlling this. The 2015 introduction of emission control areas (ECAs) will restrict all vessels travelling through the Baltic and North Seas, North American and Canadian coastlines as well as the US Caribbean Sea, to a 0.1% sulphur cap. This strict regulation shows that even the heaviest industry has to listen to the crisis of global warming now. Although this may not seem to be hugely significant when one considers the vast amount of damage done, Marine PR specialist company Blue hosted a debate regarding ECA compliance. This signifies how big a change this will be for the energy sector and the realisation that “non-compliance is not an option with regulators” shows that it is being taken seriously. 

 Regulators such as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as part of the United Nations are stepping up to the challenge of fighting global warming, but what we need is more regulative bodies across further sectors taking this responsibility away from local governing bodies and unto themselves. Although the new sulphur regulations are being taken seriously, the fine for not adhering to them is not crippling so there are fears that they could still be ignored.

From the original article: Fighting Global Warming: The Role Of Business, Industry & The Individual
As featured on Oil Voice.