According to Elliot (2013), energy presents two primary challenges to any sustainable development paradigm:

• Concerns for the adequacy (and security) of affordable energy supplies into the future.

Future carbon-based fossil fuel energy supplies are only available in finite (and declining) amounts and so a carbon constrained future is inevitable. In this context, any discussion on energy and sustainability must inevitably focus on renewables and a global low-carbon future (Urban and Nordensvard 2013):

• The environmental damage being caused by the extraction of fuel and the resulting consumption of energy and its related emissions.

Open-cast mining methods in particular have a devastating effect on the countryside, wildlife and neighbouring rural communities, as outlined by the CPRE (2014) in the UK. In other parts of the world the impacts of drilling for oil in remote fragile ecosystems have proved disastrous, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound in Alaska, being two of the most high profile in recent decades. Other methods of extracting oil include the processing of Tar Sands in Canada using huge amounts of water and energy, threatening ancient boreal forests and freshwater systems (Elliot 2013).

'Tar sands in alberta' by Howl Arts Collective, from wikimedia. Used under a creative commons license

The burning of fossil fuels (i.e. oil, gas and coal) emits CO₂ into the atmosphere where it accumulates and contributes to the greenhouse effect. Counteracting this anthropogenic (human-induced) warming of the atmosphere is not an insubstantial challenge as over 80% of the world’s current energy consumption is met by fossil fuels (Elliot 2013). The transition to a low carbon future economy will require substantial investment and research in the 8 main renewable technologies:

Biomass, Hydroelectricity, Solar power, Wave power, Tidal power, Wind power, Geothermal energy, Hydrogen fuel.