Concluding remarks

Abstract

Opinion in the developed world is slowly but surely converging toward acceptance of the necessity for a more sustainable supply of energy. Accordingly, governments and policymakers worldwide are cautiously implementing measures for the reduction of primary energy consumption and harmful emissions, and for an increase in efficiency. Bringing these about is a precarious compromise between technological, social and economic challenges, which reflects the cross-cutting nature of the solutions that need to become available. In this book, such an approach has been followed to bring to the fore the potential of utilizing biomass and waste for sustainable energy production, thereby combining the advantages of slowing down fossil fuel depletion and reducing the colossal flows of refuse clogging up the biosphere. Next-generation technologies to achieve this are already available, and a selected chain of them has been discussed in detail in this handbook. Improvements in their performance and cost are still necessary, and these have been highlighted, but it is their integration and coordinated application that is crucial to harmonize our development with a healthy planet. © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2012.