Fossil fuel consumption population

China alone will contribute a quarter of the increase in C02 emissions or 3.6 billion tons, bringing its total emissions to 6.7 billion tons per year in 2030. However, Chinese emissions will still be well below those of the USA. A projected increase in fossil fuel consumption is largely responsible for fast-paced growth in C02 emissions. Of the fossil fuels, coal and oil account currently for the major part of the total energy-related C02 emissions. Factors such as population growth, rising personal incomes, improved standards of living, and further industrialization are expected to have a... 

TABLE 1.4 Approximate Times in Years for Sequential Doubling of World Population, Fossil Fuel Consumption, and Fossil Fuel Consumption Per Capita from 1860 to 1990... 

Genchi et al. (2000) showed that heat dissipation from traffic, air conditioning, and other human activities, during a warm day in Tokyo, adds up to a heat production of 140 W m-2 in Tokyo with a resulting air temperature increase of about 3 °C. A similar estimation for Stockholm results in 70 W m-2. The Swedish energy consumption, mainly based on fossil fuel and nuclear power, corresponds to a national heat generation of 0.16 W m-2 though the country is sparsely populated (20 person km-2). 

The present levels may depend on population, capita consumption of fossil fuel, deforestation and aforestation activities. 

The necessity to satisfy the growth in consumption leads to an increase in the use of natural resources. Between 1960 and 1995 the global use of mineral raw materials increased by a factor of 2.5 metals 2.1, wood 2.3, and synthetic materials 5.6. This increase considerably exceeded the growth in population size, despite its extreme nonuniformity. For instance, the U.S.A. whose population constitutes about 5% of the world s consumes about one-fourth of the global resources of fossil fuel. The U.S.A.,... 

Another extreme is represented by China and India, which rank first and second in population. Their respective per-capita energy consumptions were 4.4 and 1.7 barrels of oil equivalent in 1992, the smallest in this group of countries. Of the three fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—coal contributed 78 and 60% to energy demand in China and India, while natural gas contributed only 2 and 6%, respectively. This suggests that the indigenous reserves of coal are large and those of natural gas are small in these countries. 

FIGURE 1.7 World population and consumption of fossil fuels, 1860-1990. 

The definite amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has yet to be calculated. It depends on population, the per capita consumption of fossil fuel, deforestation, forestation activities and countermeasures that balance the extra carbon dioxide in the air. This could include planting more trees. Another factor is the use of alternative energy and conservation. Trades in fuel carbon will also have an effect. Transfers may occur from coal-rich to coal-poor nations. 

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