Energy and the environment

Abstract

All energy systems, including production, conversion and use, have adverse as well as beneficial impacts on the environment. They vary in quality, quantity, in time and in space. Environmentally sound energy management tries to minimize the adverse impacts in an equitable manner between different target groups in the most cost-effective ways. The comparison of the risk posed by different energy systems to human health, the natural environment, and the economy as a whole is extremely difficult. Although there still consensus on the definition of what is environmentally sound energy development, it can be said that at present, the world's energy supply is not produced and used in a sustainable way.