US Energy use: New technologies and policies in response to global warming

Conference · Thu Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

OSTI ID:5415121

Streets, D G; Bloyd, C N; Kenski, D M

Energy use and production accounts for by far the largest portion of emissions of greenhouse gases in the United States and the world. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that, worldwide, these activities were responsible for 57% of greenhouse warming in the 1980s. Other activities and their respective contributions as shown in Fig. 1 include agriculture, 14%; land use and modification, 9%; chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) use, 17%; and other (nonenergy) industry, 3%. Given this importance of energy activities, it is appropriate that efforts to forestall global warming have focused on these activities. Because the United States consumes the largest share of world energy and thus produces the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, it is the target of many such efforts. A number of US government responses to global warming have been proposed or are now under way. For example, the 101st Congress has seen 11 bills dealing with global warming issues; a research program on climate change has been promised $190 million for 1990; and the United States has signed the Montreal Protocol to control CFCs. The paper that follows discusses US energy and related emissions of greenhouse gases. Energy use in each sector is briefly characterized and several new technologies for energy use in that sector are described. Finally, national and state policies that offer potential to reduce energy use are discussed. This discussion is limited by space considerations to only a sampling of the many technologies under development and policy options that have been proposed. 20 refs., 12 figs., 6 tabs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5415121
• Report Number(s): CONF-8906244-1; ON: DE90002170
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CONCENTRATION RATIO
ENERGY
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY POLICY
ENERGY SOURCES
ENERGY SUPPLIES
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
MODIFICATIONS
NATIONAL ENERGY PLAN
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PUBLIC POLICY
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
USES