First Things First

First, and arguably most significant, of our boundaries is Climate Change (as caused by CO₂ emissions). Carbon Dioxide is a key Greenhouse Gas (GHG), the higher its concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere, the more effectively it insulates the planet. In doing so it causes temperatures to rise and therein lie the many associated problems of Global Warming. I will take the bold assumption that if you are reading this blog, you are at least familiar with the effects of Global Warming, and it certainly goes beyond the capacity of this post to summarise the vast body of associated literature, so just in case, here is a nice overview from the trusty National Geographic.

Whilst all living things produce CO₂ naturally, since around 1750 when humans first began to use industrial processes on a large scale, the total global level has risen at an extraordinary rate. 

But exactly what processes are responsible, and which contribute most? Below is a 2005 illustration of GHG emissions from the World Resources Institute.

Another noteworthy graph can be found here. To quickly clarify that what this blog refers to as industrial, is all commercial activity that provides a mass consumed product. In the case of these two illustrations, that therefore encompasses energy supply, agriculture and forestry. That being the case, it is easy to see the enormous proportion of CO₂ that it accounts for. An article in the Guardian in 2006 revealed that "Five companies in Britain produce more carbon pollution together, than all the motorists on UK roads combined" and that EON UK produced more CO₂ than Croatia. That's more CO₂ from one branch of one multinational energy company than an entire country. Now I realise Croatia isn't the largest country in the world, but I think it leaves little doubt over the responsibilities of companies like EON, RWE Npower, Drax, Corus and EDF when it comes to reining-in global  CO₂ pollution.

It is the prolific use of fossil fuels to build, power and heat industrial centres across the globe that is chiefly responsible for these emissions, but deforestation and cement production have also had massive contributions. In an industrial sense, carbon emissions fall into two main categories: those associated with industry and goods production (i.e. factories, power plants etc.) and those resultant from commercial transport. In future posts, I will be looking at the alternative, carbon-reduced methods for pursuing these activities.

Having said all that, Carbon Dioxide is also the most tended-to of all our Planetary Boundaries worldwide. The European Union Carbon Trading Scheme represents just one of the many attempts to use legislation to actively reduce emissions. In the next post I will evaluate that, and other efforts to control industrial activity.