By 2020, annual emissions of carbon dioxide will have increased by 50% worldwide, which equals about 3.5 billion tons, according to ExxonMobil Corp. This is because global demand for fossil fuels for cars and power plants will rise by 40%, as populations increase and economies grow. “Between now and 2020 we estimate increases of some 3.5 billion tons per year of additional carbon emissions, so it’s definitely increasing,” says Exxon’s Randy Broiles.
Jeff Franks writes in planetark.com that most of this increase will come from developing countries. “Eighty percent of that number, 80% of 3.5 billion tons, is going to be driven by those developing countries, those economies that are growing at the 4 to 5% range, so that’s where it’s coming from,” says Broiles.
Most of this will be caused by a huge increase in the number of cars. Already people in China, who used to depend mainly on their bicycles, are buying cars in record numbers.There are now 15 cars for every 1,000 people in the world, but the number to rise to 50 cars per 1,000 by 2020.
Although ExxonMobil denies this, a recent Swedish study suggests that we will have a severe oil shortage long before then. Also, recent computer models show that manmade greenhouse gases have had a major impact on global warming in the last 50 years. Many developing countries have bypassed land lines and gone straight from no phones to cell phones. If we develop the right fuel technology, they could do the same thing with regard to fossil fuels?but only if the new fuel is cheaper and just as efficient.
Knowledge can be dangerous to those who discover it, if it’s not accepted by those who hear it.
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