Chapter 2 Energy and Environment Perspectives 2.1 Introduction The inevitable increase in population and the economic development that must necessarily occur in many countries have serious implications for the environment, because energy generation processes (e.g., generation of electricity, heating, cool- ing, or motive force for transportation vehicles and other uses) are polluting and harmful to the ecosystem. Energy is considered to be a key player in the generation of wealth and also a significant component in economic development. This makes energy resources extremely significant for every country in the world. In bringing energy needs and energy availability into balance, there are two main elements: energy demand and energy supply. In this regard, every country aims to attain such a balance and hence develop policies and strategies. A number of factors are considered to be important in determining world energy consumption and production, including population growth, economic performance, consumer tastes, technological devel- opments, government policies concerning the energy sector, and developments on world energy markets. As stated above, there is an intimate connection between energy and the envi- ronment. A society seeking sustainable development ideally must utilize only energy resources that cause no environmental impact (e.g., that release no emis- sions to the environment). However, since all energy resources lead to some environmental impact, it is reasonable to suggest that some (not all) of the concerns regarding the limitations imposed on sustainable development by environmental emissions and their negative impacts can be in part overcome through increased energy efficiency. Clearly, a strong relation exists between energy efficiency and environmental impact since, for the same services or products, less resource utilization and pollution is normally associated with increased energy efficiency. Energy conservation, that is, the use of energy resources in a rational manner, represents another factor that together with energy efficiency can lead to the stabilization of the rate of growth of energy demand, which is predicted to increase rapidly in the near future due to population growth and excessive use of various commodities (e.g., cars, computers, air conditioners, household electronic I ˙ . Dinc ¸er and C. Zamfirescu, Sustainable Energy Systems and Applications, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-95861-3_2, # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 51