Carbon is one of the common air pollutants. Burning of fossil fuel generates carbon pollution. Carbon pollution in turn triggers bouts of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, type II diabetes, dementia etc. To reduce the burden of these said ailments we need to reduce the use of fossil fuels. What could be the fuel sources alternative to fossil fuels? What measures could be taken to reduce air pollution from burning fossil fuels?
The main alternatives energy sources to the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation are:
a) Renewables;
b) Nuclear energy.
However, not all countries are ready to replace the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation with the use of renewables and nuclear energy altogether. Renewable energy sources are unstable, such as solar and wind power; both types of renewables depend on climate conditions. Some others are not available in the country such as geothermal or their presence is not strong enough to represent a real alternative to the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation such as hydropower.
The use of nuclear energy for electricity generation is not a cheap option, and many countries have not adequate infrastructure and the qualified workforce to use this type of energy source for electricity generation.
For this reason, a country should study all types of energy sources available in the country very carefully and select the most economical and clean combination of energy sources to build its energy matrix.
The other efforts to reduce air pollution from burning fossil fuels:
a. The government applies strict rules to pass emissions tests for vehicles and sanctions for factories that exceed safe air pollution threshold.
b. Provision of public transportation that uses alternative fuels such as electric power or others. This public transportation must cover a wide range and meet the needs of the community
c. using an electric car, although it takes money and time to prepare it.
this step can be an alternative for countries that have not been able to replace their energy sources with others.