Environmental impact of the energy industry

<p>The environmental impact of the energy industry is significant, as <a href="/facts/Energy/wd8PrQM7">energy</a> and <a href="/facts/Natural_resource/w9WXxMx3">natural resource</a> consumption are closely related. Producing, transporting, or consuming energy all have an environmental impact. Energy has been harnessed by human beings for millennia. Initially it was with the use of <a href="/facts/Fire/M6XwR3am">fire</a> for light, heat, cooking and for safety, and its use can be traced back at least 1.9 million years. 
In recent years there has been a trend towards the increased <a href="/facts/Renewable_energy_commercialization/NQyj7a7N">commercialization of various renewable energy sources</a>. Scientific consensus on some of the main human activities that contribute to global warming are considered to be increasing concentrations of <a href="/facts/Greenhouse_gas/HXaHqrT8">greenhouse gases</a>, causing a warming effect, global changes to land surface, such as <a href="/facts/Deforestation/L1TNhN9p">deforestation</a>, for a warming effect, increasing concentrations of <a href="/facts/Aerosol/X1jXFLp2">aerosols</a>, mainly for a cooling effect.
</p><p>Rapidly advancing technologies can potentially achieve a transition of energy generation, water and waste management, and food production towards better environmental and energy usage practices using methods of <a href="/facts/Systems_ecology/12KumxzS">systems ecology</a> and <a href="/facts/Industrial_ecology/WRcYYmza">industrial ecology</a>.
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Environmental impact of the energy industry open-in-new

Environmental impact of the energy industry