Abstract:

Recently concluded Paris Conference 2015 notes that, even after complying by pollution reduction commitments by various nations, estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2025 and 2030 will reach 55 Giga tons of carbon emissions, and will not reduce the global average temperature rise to below 2 ̊C above pre-industrial levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that if greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels continue to rise, future changes are likely to be even more extreme, with millions of people displaced by rising sea levels and global food supplies under threat. The only possible recovery from this imminent danger appears to be in the form of global cooperation in mitigating climate change at a pace unprecedented in modern history. Adoption of Paris Agreement 2015 will not be beneficial, unless, reduction in energy demands in the form of fossil fuel as well as resources consumption by people around the world and other mitigating measures are employed at mass scale, the most important being one switching to cleaner energy. According to IPCC report (2014) electricity generation and transportation together contributes 39% of global greenhouse gas emission. A very promising way to achieve this daunting task of reduction in GHG emission is by switching to cleaner sources of energy such as solar photovoltaic and fuel cells away from fossil fuel based electricity production and transportation. Recent data suggest that contribution of solar energy has already crossed 1.5% of global electricity demand and it is the fastest growing energy market in China which is the second largest GHG emitter in the world. Whereas, fuel cells possess the capacity of becoming the future power house. The present paper intends to illustrate and discuss current as well as future prospects of these sources of clean energy, their contribution in mitigation of climate change and imminent danger of unchecked climate change.

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