Can this "energy pathway", as called for in the Brandtland Commission in 1987 (Mitchell, 1996: 149), be fulfilled by the current energy situation? The world population is likely to reach 10 billion by the end of the 21st century and demand for energy will increase. Current fossil fuel use seems to be altering the global climate and causing pollution. Is a switch to renewable energy the only solution and is this even economically, technologically, politically and socially possible? How could new technology, nuclear power or conservation be incorporated into 21st century energy policy?

Fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) provide around 78% of the world's energy (Walsh, 1999). There is a finite supply of fossil fuels, but the World Energy Council report (Strubegger, 1998) does not see this as a limit to fossil fuel use in the twenty first century. The limit to its use will be environmental concerns. The use of fossil fuels puts 22 billion tonnes of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere each year (National Geographic, March 2001). This adds to the greenhouse effect,

Fifty percent of energy production in the US goes to waste heat in various forms (Eppen, 1975:7). Improving the design of housing and machinery would reduce this. As has been mentioned above, power stations are very inefficient. Technological development will improve this, often at an unexpected rate. This has happened in many industries in the past decade (Goldemberg, 1996: 76) MORE.

which changes the world climate. The exact effect of this over the 21st century is impossible to predict, but it is likely that sea levels will rise, which will flood low-lying cities. The circulation of the oceans will be disrupted which will alter temperatures, change agriculture and could cause mass extinction. This could probably be avoided if the current increase in carbon dioxide was halted or reduced. Carbon dioxide emissions could increase by 55% by 2020 if fossil fuels supply the energy required by the increasing world population (National Geographic, March 2001).

Government policy is extremely important in promoting conservation policies. They can lead by example by using new techniques, for example, in building offices and council housing. Governments can introduce strict legislation, as has been done in Switzerland with building laws (Anderson, 1993: 64). This is another area where public education is vital. The perceived needs and ingrained habits of society need to be changed. The "Four Rs" should be promoted: recycling, re-use, repair and reconditioning (Anderson, 1993: 67).

Many national economies are based on the export of fossil fuels. The sudden removal of this source of energy would unstabilise their balance of payments and would lead to conflict. Evidence of this can be seen in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia's attempts to impede climate change negotiations (Mitchell, 1996: 169).

Another problem with nuclear energy has been the failure to find a safe method of disposing of nuclear waste. This by-product of fission and reprocessing has a half-life of thousands of years and could potentially be used to make nuclear weapons. To prevent harm and terrorist threat the waste must be disposed of so that it is unobtainable. Deep burial sites were planned to be ready by the 1980s but now seem unlikely to be finished until 2020 (Mitchell, 1996: 135). Suitable short-term storage space is running out and a solution must be found if nuclear energy is to be a significant part of energy policy for the 21st century.

The two main sources of bioorganic energy are wood and biomass. Wood is an important source of energy in many developing countries where it is used for cooking or heating. It is a renewable source of energy but does produce carbon dioxide and other pollutants and because of this it is not an ideal part of 21st century energy policy. One energy source that has replaced or reduced the burning of wood is biomass, which currently provides 14% of the world's energy (National Geographic, March 2001). Vegetation or human waste can be fermented to produce methane or ethanol. The ethanol can replace or be mixed with petrol to power engines. This makes engines burn more cleanly and produce less carbon dioxide. The methane can be used in gas power plants to produce electricity. Like natural gas power plants this is a fairly efficient process and produces lower amounts of carbon than coal plants. The by-products of these processes can be used for fertiliser to grow more crops.

On a large scale there are problems with thermal pollution, storage and inefficient transmission (Eppen, 1975: 11), so small-scale units would be the best for 21st century energy policy.

The use of biomass should be an extremely important part of 21st century energy policy because it can be applied equally well in developing and developed countries, would provide jobs, cut carbon emissions and is renewable.

In the United States there is 20% more solid waste than maize, so biofuels could be produced without threatening food supply (Goldemberg, 1996: 95).

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2758
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)