Black to green: The carbon debate and beyond

"With Coal, we have light, strength, power, wealth, and civilization," W J Nicolls, a 20th-century American writer, once marvelled. "Without Coal we have darkness, weakness, poverty, and barbarism." A century later, civilisation itself seems to be threatened by the 'black diamond'. Although breathing coal's sulphurous smoke was once considered healthy in England, it soon became clear that inhaling these vapours was far from good for the human body. Moreover, it is not just the coal fumes that are dangerous to human health. It is the invisible, odourless carbon-dioxide (CO2) gas that results from burning coal that is now threatening the world – not just human beings, but the entire climatic system.

Coal, whose reserves are widespread across the globe, today provides about 40 percent of the globe's electricity, but it has also become something of a black albatross. Similarly, refined crude oil has given us diesel and gasoline – the most energy-dense of liquid fuels – giving humanity the freedom to drive and fly across the globe. Yet, it has become increasingly obvious that our collective addiction to oil has become a geopolitical and environmental nightmare. While fossil fuels have irrefutably defined the modern way of life, countries around the world are now struggling to maintain a certain lifestyle – one made possible by fossil fuels – while not relying on the dirty sources.