ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE EUROPEAN ENERGY CRISIS : Environmental Impacts on Germany and the United Kingdom regarding the Energy Crisis and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

This thesis investigated the environmental impacts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the 2023 short- and 2030&2050 long-term scenarios that face the energy crisis because of the Russia-Ukraine war for Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) as a case study. The study also analysed CO2 emissions in connection with fossil fuel and renewable consumption in kWh/capita prior to the war crisis, which was a baseline for predicting CO2 emissions of electricity generation in the future (2023) and the distant future (2030 and 2050). CO2 emissions and the global mean temperature were predicted using manual estimation and a global calculator following the changes in energy sources and CO2 emissions. The short- and long-term scenarios were used to analyse the changes in CO2 emission and energy mix in relation to environmental impacts and energy transition in kWh per capita in Germany and the UK. Energy source changes for the short-term scenario were projected based on the energy trends from 2018 to 2022. The long-term scenarios were projected for Germany’s and the UK’s energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables in connection with the maximum renewable energy potential and future energy demand. The environmental impacts of CO2 emissions in GtCO2 and global mean temperature change in °C related to energy explained how clean the energy transition in 2030 and 2050 is in this study. Two countries consider the gradual increase in renewables in 2023 and expansion in renewables in 2030 and 2050, especially hydropower, wind power, solar power and bioenergy, to bring down CO2 emissions massively because of 40% CO2 emissions from the energy sector out of the total CO2 emissions for all sectors. Two countries are presumed to reach nearly net zero to achieve the 2050 energy policies and plans. The short-term has more environmental impact than 2022, which is 0.44°C at the lowest limit of the global mean temperature in 2023 compared to 0.37°C in 2022. The 2030 long-term scenario has the lowest environmental impact on the global ...