From the Industrial Revolution to the Sustainable&Renewable Revolution in Energy

“An action is right when it preserves the integrity, balance, and beauty of the biotic community, otherwise it is wrong.”

“For twenty centuries, progressivism has given the people in the street a vote, a national anthem, a Ford car, a bank account, and a sense of superiority, but…

Aldo Leopold, "Ethics of the Land"

In his book Game Management, Leopold stated that human beings impoverish the land for their economic wealth. According to Leopold, human beings, who see themselves above nature, have disturbed the critical balance of the biotic system due to the lack of knowledge while interfering with the environment. In Aldo Leopold's book "Ethics of the Land", "a century of propaganda about nature conservation has not worked; despite all that has been done, progress has been made “at a snail's pace”; He said that "for every step forward, two steps back" is taken.

The Industrial Revolution is generally known as the transition process from an agriculture and craft economy to an economy dominated by industry and machinery manufacturing. The term “Industrial Revolution”, which started in England in the 18th century and spread first to other European countries and then to other parts of the world, was first used by the British economic historian Arnold Toynbee. Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and the USA until 1850; Towards 1900, Russia and Japan began to industrialize. In recent years, the development of Chinese industry and its economic rise have also attracted attention. The general feature of the Industrial Revolution is the technological developments. Iron and steel began to be used as new basic materials. After James Watt's invention of the steam engine in 1763 with the use of new energy sources such as coal, electricity and oil, the steam engine was first used in textile workshops and then in steamships and trains. Significant advances have been made in transportation and communication, such as the automobile, airplane, telegraph, and radio. With these technological changes, mass production of finished goods was made.

All these technological developments paved the way for the opening of factories in every field and caused the excessive use of natural resources. The increase and spread of industrialization has caused many pollution.

Pollution created by industrialization:

Water pollution: A high amount of industrial waste water is mixed into our resources by dumping radioactive wastes into the oceans or rivers. The use of this water for irrigation in agriculture also harms human health. Water pollution has rendered groundwater resources unusable. Chemical wastes, pesticides, radioactive materials cause loss of biodiversity on earth and harm the ecosystem.

Soil pollution: It causes problems in agricultural activities and products and destroys natural vegetation.

Air pollution: One of the most recognizable aspects of industrial cities and towns is the pollution of their air. During the 18th and 19th centuries, large amounts of air pollution have arisen from the burning of coal in the numerous factories established in Europe, the intense use of energy and the excessive consumption of fossil fuels.

Air pollution has become a big problem especially in Northern European countries. A characteristic 'smoke' image has formed above industrial cities. Some polluting gases formed in industrial production processes have caused acid rain, thinning or tearing of the ozone layer. It caused the harmful rays of the sun to enter the living life and caused health problems. According to recent studies, air pollution is one of the top ten risks to human health all over the world. According to the 2018 reports of the World Health Organization, it was understood that approximately 7 million people in the world died prematurely in 2017 due to air pollution. 2 million of these deaths occurred in Southeast Asia, 2 million in the Western Pacific, 1 million in Africa, 500 thousand in Europe, 500 thousand in the Eastern Mediterranean and 300 thousand in America.

As a result, today's environmental problems of the world started with the Industrial Revolution and gradually increased. Damages created by the Industrial Revolution and caused to our environment until today; water and air pollution, decreases in biodiversity, destruction of wildlife habitats and global warming issues that have not been on the agenda in recent years.

Industrialization is the comprehensive organization of the economy for the purpose of production and consumption. Manufacturing always involves large-scale use of energy and alteration of natural resources. Industrialization is seen as the key to wealth and a better life today, but while it negatively affects the environment, causing air pollution at first, it has been observed by scientists that it causes climate change in the long term. Therefore, the causes of climate change in recent years have been a serious topic of international debate and will continue to be for a long time. There is a consensus, but there is no consensus on the reasons. Both natural events and human activities are thought to contribute to the increase in average global temperatures.

From another perspective, Prof. Dr. According to Barbaros Gönençgil, “Although climate change scenarios are created and these scenarios have a scientific basis, the catastrophic effect in the atmosphere makes it difficult to predict the outcome”.

Climate in general; It is defined as the average state of meteorological events such as temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation over long years. However, today, all short or long-term movements in climates are interpreted as change. In addition, Gönençgil defines climate change in the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change as “a change in climate as a result of human activities that directly or indirectly degrade the composition of the global atmosphere, in addition to natural climate change observed in a comparable time period”. draws attention to the details of “human activities”. According to him, the variability in the climate is explained by the long-term deviation or change from the long-term averages of meteorological events. As natural factors causing climate change; changes in the earth's orbital characteristics, atmospheric carbon dioxide variations, volcanic eruptions and changes in solar energy output are listed and all these listed factors are effective together and in the same time period. In other words; On the one hand, while the factors that cause the change of the energy coming from the sun continue, both the composition of the atmosphere can change and at the same time the physical geographical features of the earth can change. These changes take place over a long period of time.

As a result of the Industrial Revolution, with the enrichment of Europe and the USA, it has begun to be seen as the realization of economic goals as social welfare. The wealth of countries has begun to be measured by how much energy they produce. Since the process that started with the industrial revolution until today, developed countries in the industry have both produced and consumed the raw materials they have obtained from nature, considering it endless. European countries, which thought that they could dominate nature with the industrial revolution and technological developments, ignored the damage they caused to nature while industrializing and getting rich. However, our natural resources in the world are limited, the damage caused by industrial production tools to the atmosphere is obvious. From now on, all countries, especially industrialized countries, are responsible for the protection of nature.

In all the reports published by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 1988, and in the Climate Change 2021 Physical Science Basis report of the 6th Term Working Group published on August 9, 2021, the humanity, on which European countries especially emphasize, is indisputably "conclusive". his statements that it causes global warming and the world's focus on global climate change is to try to ensure the "sustainability and renewability" of its own energy policies.

As a result of the creation of a consumer society after the industrial revolution, not only in Europe, but all over the world, the energy needs of societies have increased. Governments have started to work hard to meet their energy needs. Policies produced vary from country to country according to the level of development. While the policies produced and implemented by developed countries are calculated and planned in the long term, it is noteworthy that the policies in developing or underdeveloped countries are short-term and temporary solution oriented.

In this sense, in Europe, it is seen that the oldest common policy area of ​​the EU is energy and energy supply security, and the formation process of the EU's energy policies is realized with consciously produced and taken steps in the long term.

Energy policies of EU countries:

As it is known, EU countries are highly dependent on Russia for natural gas imports. Due to the energy crises between Russia and Ukraine, the natural gas flow from Russia to the EU countries is frequently interrupted, and the EU countries, which are adversely affected by this situation, have focused on policies that will ensure energy supply security and reduce their dependence on supplier countries. In the field of energy, the first steps were taken by West Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, and the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was established with the 1951 Paris Agreement. In the 1950s, Western European countries directed their policies towards nuclear energy. The European Atomic Energy Community (EAET) was established in 1958. 1973 Oil Crisis is an oil embargo by Arab countries to European countries. The problems experienced in this process, especially as a result of the 1973 Oil Crisis, EU countries, both to cope with the political pressures that may come from the supplier countries and to meet their future energy needs. It has started to develop energy security policies in order to overcome the difficulties that may be experienced in As a first step, he established the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 1974. In addition, the New Energy Policy Strategy was published in 1974 with the aim of reducing energy consumption, increasing nuclear energy production, reducing dependence on oil, and overcoming the problems that may arise from oil imports.

With the disintegration of the USSR in 1991, the establishment of close relations on energy with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, which are independent countries with rich oil and natural gas reserves, came to the fore. Energy transmission line projects have been tried to be developed for the energy resources of the Caspian Region countries, which gained their independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The European Energy Charter was signed in 1991. The subjects emphasized in this agreement are: developing trade in the energy field, ensuring harmony and cooperation in the field of energy, and reducing energy consumption.

Ukraine's place is different for EU countries because it is very important for EU countries as a transit country. Natural gas reaching EU countries from Russia is transported by Soyuz, Brotherhood and Trans Balkan Natural Gas Pipelines passing through Ukraine. Political crises between Russia and Ukraine in 2006, 2009 and 2014 led to an energy crisis in EU countries. Especially when the crisis in 2006 coincided with the winter months, major problems were experienced.

All these natural gas crises originating from Russia-Ukraine have led EU countries to seek solutions for energy, because Russia, being aware of its power, gives the EU countries the amount of natural gas it wants at the price it wants. With the natural gas supply security regulation published on October 25, 2017, it aims to strengthen the EU's energy security, reduce foreign dependency in energy supply and cope with any natural gas supply crisis more quickly and efficiently. However, the fact that EU countries need more energy than they produce has increased energy dependence on Russia and it still continues. Today, it is understood that Europe's natural low dependence on Russia for energy continues, and Germany depends on the fate of the Nord Stream 2 (north stream) natural gas pipeline project, which is planned to bring Russian gas to Europe via the Baltic Sea. The EU has tended to create more effective energy policies to reach supplier countries that can be an alternative to Russia.

The general lines of the EU Energy Policy can be listed as follows:

Energy Saving: Efforts are made to control energy demand and reduce energy demand in order to reduce foreign dependency.

Diversification of energy types: Transition should be made from sources that seem risky to safe sources. Especially in electricity generation, the use of solid fuels and nuclear energy instead of hydrocarbons is encouraged.

Increasing production: In EU countries, especially oil, natural gas and coal are tried to be increased as resources with the possibility of production.

Diversification of supply sources: Efforts are made to make imports from geographically different regions. In addition, the development of nuclear energy is encouraged, along with new and renewable resources.

European Union Energy Common Market: Efforts are being made to create a common energy market in order to eliminate differences in many areas such as product standards, pricing, taxation.

Technological Development: Increasing energy efficiency is encouraged by the development of appropriate technologies in order to achieve the objectives of the energy policy of EU member states.

Protection of the Environment: Since the interest and sensitivity of the world's societies on environmental problems arising from industrial pollution has increased, efforts are being made to protect the environment. It aims to integrate energy policies and climate change policies.

The EU has made and published various strategies and regulations in order to achieve the above-mentioned goals. In this context, energy packages were published in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015. “Clean Energy Package” was published in 2016.

While creating the energy policies listed above, the common point in all of the European Union's strategies and regulations is to create sustainable energy markets and to integrate sustainable energy policies and climate change combat policies. In this context, it has set important targets for the energy field, which it plans to achieve by 2020. These are increasing energy efficiency by 20%, increasing the share of renewable energy sources in energy supply to 20%, increasing the rate of biofuel used in the transportation sector to at least 10% and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20%. 23-24 October 2014 date At the EU Council meeting held in the 1980s, the EU's "framework for climate and energy policies for 2030" (2030 framework for climate and energy policies) was adopted. Accordingly, it is aimed to reduce the EU's greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, to increase the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption to 27% and to increase energy efficiency by a minimum of 27%.

The Paris Climate Agreement, which entered into force on November 4, 2016, is an important step taken in the energy policy process. The agreement established a system based on the contributions of all signatory countries. With this agreement, the classification of developed/developing countries struggling with climate change and the understanding of taking responsibility based on the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and relative capabilities” of all countries has been introduced. The general objective of the agreement; is to keep the global average temperature increase below 2°C compared to the pre-industrial period. In addition, it is aimed to increase the adaptability and climate resilience against the negative effects of climate change. Ensuring development with low greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring that food production is not harmed while realizing these are among the intended targets. With the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement, "Clean Energy for all Europeans" was announced on 30 November 2016. The package contains regulations regarding the design of renewable energy support mechanisms. For example, it aims to increase the use of renewable energy in the transportation and heating/cooling sectors and to use sustainable bioenergy.

It has embedded the EU's climate change policy into the Emissions Trading System (ETS). The ETS is the European Union's carbon market and covers sectors responsible for 45% of EU emissions. This system is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-55% by 2030 and to reach “0” net emissions by 2050. The ETS system aims to make Europe the first climate neutral continent.

The Green Deal for the period 2019-2024 covers the processes of transforming Europe into the world's first climate neutral continent by 2050. In this framework, a low-carbon and climate change-resistant European policy is followed, and policies towards a transition to a “0” carbon future for almost every sector (energy, housing and services, transportation, industry, agriculture, forestry, waste management, etc.) are planned. With the 2050 Climate-Neutral strategy, it is thought that the EU has started a new modernization and transformation that will not harm the climate of the planet. In this sense, EU countries aiming to be a strong regional institution and advancing towards technological leadership in the fight against climate change; They develop policies to promote renewable energy technologies in order to enlarge their industrial scale as a target, and to try to ensure that the countries that signed the Paris Agreement act in accordance with the agreement.

In line with this goal, the EU's "from fork to table" strategy for the protection of natural vegetation and bio-diversity and sustainable food has been established. This strategy includes sustainable food production, sustainable food processing, sustainable food consumption and facilitating the transition to healthy, sustainable diets, food loss and waste prevention. Acting with the idea of ​​achieving sustainable development by moving away from fossil fuel-based economy for a “0” carbon economy, the EU tries to provide a new type of industrial development by making new inventions with new technologies and aims to implement this by spreading its own energy supply security policies worldwide. With the 'energy and climate package' issued by the EU in 2008, it has set concrete targets such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% until 2020, obtaining 20% ​​of energy production from renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency by 20%. considered as the integration of energy policies. However, Europe's ever-increasing dependency on fossil fuels and rising energy costs at the same time cause the Union to focus on the cost of climate change policies rather than their benefits. This situation slows down the process of implementation of legal regulations.

European countries that "see themselves above nature" as Leopold puts it, basing their energy policies and climate policies on legal and scientific foundations; for its own wealth, it tries to enrich the land that it impoverished with the industrial revolution with new technologies. Europe, which immediately embraced and implemented the technologies of the industrial revolution, is now trying to achieve its goals by planting integrated sustainable/renewable energy and climate policies in the lands of the whole world. Study efforts are just like snails Will we go “two steps back for every step forward” or will we see “European nature industrialization” that surrounds the whole world.

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