Electricity in the context of a new vision of global warming in which anthropogenic heat and not CO2 is determinant
Michel Vert*
* The author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Institute for Biomolecules Max Mousseron, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Abstract
IPCC's predictions of climate deterioration include increases in temperature and in ocean level, as well as local climate events, all attributed to a surplus of carbon dioxide source of radiative forcing that has been building up in the oceans since carbon-based fossil compounds are exploited to generate energy. This mechanism is only consensual and is therefore subject to more and more criticisms without echo because of absence of an alternative mechanism. Selected unusual reasons are first presented to convince non-specialists that greenhouse effect and radiative forcing lack solid scientific basis. As according to physics and thermodynamics, the management of heat inputs in the atmosphere and in the environment must be independent of the source, a recently proposed mechanism based on ice melting and water evaporation is recalled and justified by its extension to distant pass climate fluctuations. Given the major roles attributed to anthropogenic heat releases, in particular waste heat, on the climate, the future depends on the evolution of the anthropogenic/solar heat input ratio. Three scenarios are discussed with respect to reported climate fluctuations for the last 8,000 years of the current interglacial plateau. To position the current times with respect to these scenarios, heat and waste heat generated by the different energy sources and their uses must be assessed from cradle-to-grave to complete the life cycle assessment. With regard to electricity, such assessment must include, for each source, the production mode, in particular for renewable resources, as well as the transport and uses with the aim of increasing efficiency to produce work and minimize waste heat emissions.
Keywords - Electric energy, waste heat, anthropogenic heat releases, global heat management, global warming.