Abstract

The IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – with the United Nations has rightly emphasized the role of energy consumption in the process of climate change, which is the most dangerous form of decline in global ecological capital. Focussing upon the enormous increase in energy consumption the last 30 years, it is unavoidable to also bring up the strong link between the economy and energy. It is true that economic growth and environmental sustainability has been much debated: Can they be combined to give both prosperity and environmental protection? On the micro level, many projects show that this is indeed possible. But on the macro level, global emissions of greenhouse gases follow the advancement of country affluence closely. The link is the constantly increasing need for more energy, provided mainly by fossil fuels or produced and consumed in such a way that the release of green house gases is the dismal outcome.

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