Kyoto Treaty Summary

BP world energy review: Chinese coal drives up CO 2

Last year saw the highest surge in energy demand for almost 40 years, according to BP's 60th annual review* of energy. Despite record renewable energy production – with hydroelectric energy use rising 6.5 per cent – fossil fuel consumption surged to the highest level ever.

Gas was up 7.4 per cent and coal, which still accounts for 30 per cent of all energy consumption, was up 7.6 per cent. The boost in hydro was thanks to China's vast new dams coming online; the country produces 60 per cent of the world's hydroelectric energy.

China has doubled its energy use in a decade, and became the largest energy user in the world, with 20.3 per cent. Almost half of China's energy comes from coal.

So not surprisingly, CO at 30 billion tonnes.

Last month the European Environment Agency said that emissions of 15 EU members who had signed up to the Kyoto Protocol had fallen by 6.9 per cent in 2009. But it doesn't make a blind bit of difference, when faced with the gigantic industrialisation of China and India.

China is also the largest producer of cement, which contributes around 5 per cent of anthropogenic CO may be to persuade China and other giants to drop coal for gas. Renewable energy accounted for a tiddling 1.8 per cent of global consumption: the figure includes biofuels, wind, solar and hydro.

The survey can be found here, in a (45-page/7.5MB, PDF ) nutshell. A shorter summary is here . ®

*The survey was first published in 1951 by the Anglo Iranian Oil Company – before it changed its name to BP.

Kyoto Protocol Summary – A Quick Guide

This Kyoto Protocol Summary recognizes that the Protocol is simple in essence but is more complex in its implementation.

This is a quick guide to understanding it.

So you want to have some grasp of the essence of the Kyoto Protocol but don’t have the time to digest it in all its detail? >This Kyoto Protocol Summary may be just what you need. You may find more on the Kyoto Treaty here .

Fair enough. Not "having enough time" is a symptom of our age prompting us to find greater alternate energy sources to do work for us. This is in turn a cause of global warming.

President Obama To Sign The Kyoto Treaty?

Before you go on, just pause for a moment... Barack Obama has said his administration will spend $150 Billion on development of renewable energy and technology. The USA is the last to hold out on signing the Kyoto Treaty. The first act of the Australian Rudd Government was to sign it. Will President Obama sign it?

No, not while there is such an uneven commitment to reducing enforceable greenhouse gas emission cuts. Copenhagen failed miserably when India and China did not play ball.

For the moment Kyoto is all we have - till 2014. And it's completely inadequate as a mechanism towards greenhouse gas emission cuts that will save the world from significant effects of global warming.

The Kyoto Protocol tries to stimulate you and I to think more responsibly about that and the fossil fuels we use . What kind of energy we use, how, and how much we use is important for our survival and wellbeing of the planet Earth.

Read this Kyoto Protocol Summary.

Here is the Kyoto Protocol Summary—no frills.

What is the Kyoto Protocol in summary?

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement between countries, worldwide, to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are a major cause of global warming.

And global warming affects everything. Colder climates in some parts. Hotter, drier climates in others. Rising sea levels, water shortages, loss of bio diversity, and so on. The Kyoto Protocol is an effort to curb these, and other, effects.

Of course I cannot tell you more than this in a Kyoto Protocol Summary only.

What greenhouse gases does the Kyoto Prootcol aim to limit?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) Methane (CH4) Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) Perfluorocarbons (PFCs, and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)

Which countries have signed up for the Kyoto Protocol?