Rethinking Climate Change on the Role of Human Power Generation, Alternative Perspectives, Potential Solutions, and a Plea for Action

Journal article

Climate change is typically attributed solely to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We propose a broader conceptualization of this complex challenge by considering the growing role of anthropogenic power generation and the Earth's delicate energy balance. In addition, we consider the impact of continued population growth and the growing need for energy. This integrated perspective may contribute to explaining the currently unexplained discrepancies in existing climate change models. In addition, we propose a forward looking strategy to move from pessimism to proactivity in mitigating climate change. For industrial production, there is a lever to change things by replacing existing processes with more efficient ones and by recovering low caloric heat. This can be paired with traditional carbon mitigation approaches. In this way, humanity is the cause of climate change, and humanity also has the tools to defeat climate change.

Authors: Bertau, M; Steiner, G; Harwood, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Chemie Ingenieur Technik - CIT
• Article number: e70100
• Publication date: 2026-04-04
• Acceptance date: 2026-03-24
• DOI: 10.1002/cite.70100
• EISSN: 1522-2640
• ISSN: 0009286X, 0009-286X
• Language: English
• Keywords: climate change; replacement; power generation; chemical industry; anthropocene; human overpopulation