Role of Innovation and Policy Development for a Sustainable Environment

Abstract

The global demand for energy has been on the rise. Most of this demand has been satisfied through hydrocarbons. The exploration, exploitation and growing consumption of hydrocarbon have had great impact on the environment. At the rate energy demand is rising and the disappearance of cheap hydrocarbon, other sources of energy would have to come into the energy mix to meet this growing demand. Despite ready availability of energy being desirable and a key to economic progress, energy development has to be done in a way that ensures our environment can continue to exist and support life. As energy development is putting stress on the environment and the need to sustain the environment is putting constraints on conventional energy development, policy development and technological innovation especially towards the development of renewable energy have come to play a big role. This paper uses quantitative and qualitative approaches to show the roles of technological innovation and policy development in achieving a balance between the sustainability of the environment and meeting energy demands.