Disclaimer: This text reflects only the opinion of its author and does not in any way commit the official word of the French Air and Space Academy.
By Jean-Loup Bertaux, Full Member.
Coal, oil, natural gas: these three fossil fuels contain carbon atoms, each of which will make a molecule of CO2 when burned. Half of theCO2 released is absorbed by natural sinks (forests, soils, oceans), and the other half accumulates in the atmosphere, thus causing global warming through its greenhouse effect. The CO2 content was 280 ppmv before the industrial era, it is now 413 ppmv in 2020 (+47%). We know that at the current rate of our fossil extraction, global warming will reach +4 ° in 2100 and +8 ° in 2200 (+10 ° in France, the continents heat more than the average). So we know that, in order to limit warming, we will have to stop extracting fossil fuels, and if we don’t do it quickly enough, we’ll have to removeCO2 from the atmosphere to catch up. Currently, the Earth is in a thermal imbalance; It accumulates almost 1 watt/m2, as evidenced by the increase in temperature of the oceans in their thickness. Literally, we’re baking!
We need to stop cooking as soon as possible, and the energy transition is therefore about finding alternatives to fossil fuels, defossilized as much as possible, to allow people to live as comfortably as possible