View article

The world’s energy consumption is predicted to grow by 56% by the year 2040, from 520 quadrillion Btu pa in 2010 to 820 quadrillion Btu/pa, as reported by the US Energy Information Administration in 2013. 1 Our continuously growing energy demands have been of major concern to the scientific community, industry, and commonalty in the past few decades. Nonetheless, joint forces driven by alliances between academia, government, and industries have resulted in many technological advances for the production of green energy and decomposition of toxic elements from the environment due to the surge to address the most pressing energy-related concerns. 2− 9

Although renewable energy and nuclear power are today the fastest growing energy sources, with an annual growth rate of 2.5%, fossil fuels are for economic reasons still the preeminent energy source that meets ca. 80% of the world’s energy supply. 1 …