Research – analysis: prof. Giannis Maniatis
With the assistance of PhD students: I. Voulgari, A. Manolis, M. Hatzigeorgiadis

Daily exposure to toxic air, water, soil and chemicals kills 8.3 million people worldwide each year, three times more than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. 90% of all premature deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. India and China are the two countries with the highest number of deaths.

Carbon comes first

The first place in terms of installed electric capacity is occupied by coal (25.6%, with a decrease in 2027 to 20.9%), then natural gas (22.1%, with a decrease to 19.1%), in third place is hydropower ( 16.2%, down to 14.1%). . On the contrary, growth is expected in photovoltaic (12.8%-22.2%) and wind (10.8%-14.4%). Finally, bioenergy with a rate of 2%.

Petroleum derivatives

Among the things that are not easy for our oil dependence: one barrel of oil produces gasoline for a car for 450 km, 70 kWh of electricity, 1.8 kg of charcoal briquettes, 3.8 liters of tar, etc. Then from petrochemicals, one of the following: 39 polyester T-shirts, or 65 straws, or 65 plastic cups, or 540 toothbrushes, or 750 combs, or 23 plastic gymnastic rings, or 11 telephone sets.

Plastics production is on the rise

More than 350 million tons of plastic waste are produced worldwide. India and China produce over 23 million tons and the Philippines 4 million tons. North America, Europe and Oceania account for 5% of the world’s plastic waste. In terms of per capita output, Comoros and Trinidad are ahead. By 2050, more than 12 billion tons will end up in landfills.

Five Key Points

The EU in 2023 will need an additional 30 billion cubic meters. m of natural gas if the flow from Russia is completely stopped. The five key points relate to reducing gas demand through energy efficiency, faster development of renewable energy, behavioral change, electrification of heating systems, and reduction of gas leakage. In a number of countries, the growth in sales of heat pumps is significantly higher than the world average (18%).

Gas supply – demand

Reports on the gas supply and demand gap in Europe in 2023 and how to close it are extensive. Tentatively, it can be covered by increasing the efficiency in buildings and industry (8 billion m3), increasing renewable energy installations (8 billion m3), changing behavior (5 billion m3), reducing gas losses (4 billion m3), electrifying heating (2 billion m3). .