Renewable Energy’s Role in a Changing World

Since the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased significantly, from 280 parts per million (ppm) to 401 ppm. This data was taken from the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, on October 4, 2016. The safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 ppm. The only way to reach that level is to immediately transition the global economy away from fossil fuels and into renewable energy and energy conservation. However, developing countries have the right to limit their emissions less than developing countries, which means the responsibility for lowering emissions falls even more upon already industrialized countries. In other words, industrial countries need to reduce their emissions significantly. Actually, a reduction in emissions will not necessarily lead to less economic growth; from 1990 to 2014, European Union member states reduced their carbon emissions by 19 percent even though they achieved 45 percent economic growth. In 2014, Germany’s economy grew by 1.6 percent, while gas emissions from fossil fuel consumption fell by almost 5 percent.