Greenhouse Gases and the Greenhouse Effect

Greenhouse Gases or GHG’s are those unwanted gases that exist in our atmosphere and as such contribute to global climate change, either directly or indirectly by trapping the earth’s heat and making our planet warmer. Although some of these greenhouse gases occur naturally within the atmosphere, the result of human and industrial activity on the earth has increased their quantity altering and affecting the atmospheric balance.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Consequently, earth naturally experiences a mild greenhouse effect keeping the temperature at the Earth surface just right, that is not too cold, and not too hot. This allows humans to live happily on the planet and just as important, for most of the water at the surface to stay in liquid form.
The two primary gases in the Earth’s atmosphere are Nitrogen (N2) and Oxygen (O2) which we breathe, but themselves do not absorb infrared radiation or play any significant role in setting the temperature of the planet so are therefore not classed as a greenhouse gas.
In addition to Nitrogen and Oxygen, there are small amounts of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and water molecules in the atmosphere which does affect global warming but normally these are regulated by the Earth’s annual cycle and temperature. 


Global warming problems could be solved by the implementation of various strategies. The stopping of greenhouse gas emissions (and not just reducing them), by promoting and using zero emission technologies, and by completely stopping the combustion of fossil fuel or the use of nuclear energies but instead replacing them with renewable technologies that emit zero greenhouse gases. Clearly, the harnessing of a multitude of green and clean energy sources is the only plausible way to satisfy our current energy demands.

Sea levels have risen worldwide approximately 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) in the last century. Some of this rise is a direct result of the melting of mountain glaciers and the polar ice-caps, while some has resulted from an expansion of oceanic waters that have resulted from the warmer ocean temperatures. What is becoming increasingly clear is that the chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere is changing.
Globally, huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions have been prevented by the development of waste-to-energy facilities compared to open landfills and the recovered waste gases and biofuels are used in the generation of energy in the form of heat, electricity, or combined heat and power has become an alternative way of dealing with unwanted waste producing no greenhouse gases or other atmospheric pollutants.
However, methane (CH4) obtained from burning biomass and biomass resources such as landfill solid waste, agricultural activities, animal manure, etc, produces biogas via a process known as anaerobic digestion, which is classed as renewable.

In addition to the burning of traditional fossil fuels, the burning of methane which is a component of natural gas and therefore non-renewable produces yet more greenhouse gases as during combustion the methane combines with oxygen to form water, heat and carbon dioxide. Also, methane as a gas is more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat within the atmosphere and contributing to the overall global warming problem.

The industrial sector will, therefore, have to play a major role in reducing its harmful gas emissions by increasing the efficiency of their production processes making them a cleaner less energy consuming process which will help reduce the amount of electricity being generated to meet the demand. Also installing energy efficient machinery or using more efficient energy sources, or finding alternative energy sources which when burnt create or emit little or no carbon gas.

Solar energy is the clean solution  

Fossil fuel burning to generate electricity, primarily consumed by households and industry, has resulted in a major increase in coal consumption thereby increasing our carbon footprint and increasing our overall emissions of greenhouse gases. So in order to reduce the quantity of greenhouse gas pumped daily into our atmosphere, we must reduce the combustion of fossil fuels by improving the way we both use and burn fossil fuels. But an increase in fossil fuel efficiency is not a form of alternative energy but will go some way in reducing greenhouse gases.
thought-provoking enough and therefore fully justifies our attempts to use solar energy. Harnessing this free and unlimited energy source at sufficiently high enough efficiencies is considered by many as a major challenge, but the development of new technologies fuelled by the sunshine which do not release any greenhouse gases are now becoming mainstream.

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years. 
 

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years. For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.