Видовременные формы глагола. Предлоги

Energy and the Environment

In June 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) adopted Agenda 21 which contains many proposals concerning the role of energy in sustainable development. For instance, governments are encouraged to promote greater efficiency in the use of energy and resources, to develop urban transport policies to reduce transport demand and hence traffic congestion, and to look at the implications of pricing policies which fully take into account environmental costs. Anew Un Commission on Sustainable Development has been set up which will meet regularly to review governments’ progress towards implementing Agenda 21.

To ensure adequate energy supplies for the future, all types of energy resources which are economically and environmentally sustainable will need to be considered. Although fossil fuels resources are ultimately finite, there will be no shortages of fossil fuels for the foreseeable future. At current rates of production, the worlds proven oil reserves will last for more than 40 years, natural gas for more some 60 years, and coal for more than 200 years. These figures do not take into account the fact that new reserves are still being discovered and technologies developed which enable a greater proportion of the resources to be extracted. Ultimate hydrocarbon resources, which include deposits as yet undiscovered, are even greater.