Article: A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check
Author: Robert H. Socolow AND Stephen W. Pacala
Retreating glaciers, stronger hurricanes, hotter summers, thinner polar bears; all signs of global warming. That is exactly what happening right now. The current concentration of carbon dioxide is double the concentration of what it was in the 18th century, before the Industrial Revolution. Many countries are going through the demographic transition. As societies get richer, the services sector education, health, leisure, banking and soon grows in importance relative to energy-intensive activities. This shift lowers the carbon intensity of an economy. Because we have developed more efficient appliances and adopted efficient practices, hundreds of power plants are not needed. In addition, hundreds of oil and gas fields have been developed more slowly because aircraft engines consume less fuel and the windows in gas-heated homes leak less heat.
If we are less dependent on energy and oil now than we were before, why are our greenhouse gas emissions still so high?
Residential and commercial buildings account for 60 percent of global electricity demand today (70 percent in the U.S.) and will consume most of the new power in the future. If we are to sustain ourselves for years to come, we need to figure out effective ways to significantly reduce emissions. One step would be to end the era of coal-fired power plants. Coal has become more competitive as a source of power and fuel because of energy security concerns and because of an increase in the cost of oil and gas. This is not good, since a coal power plant burns twice as much carbon per unit of electricity as a natural gas plant. It is predicted that of the 14 billion tons of carbon emissions projected for 2056, 6 billion will come from the production of power, mainly coal. If we stop using them and switch to cleaner and more renewable sources of energy like solar and air, we won't have to use them anymore, therefore reducing emissions. Another step would be to develop even more efficient lighting and appliances. Hydro-power, wind power, and solar power would help also. Renewable power can be produced from sunlight directly, either to energize photo-voltaic cells or, using focusing mirrors, to heat a fluid and drive a turbine. In addition, lower birth rates would reduce emissions. If there are less people in the future than expected, there would be lower emissions because there would be less consumer goods and less production.
If we can keep global emissions at the level they are right now, then we'll have accomplished a lot. Imagine a world, a world with advanced technology and clean energy. "The world will have a fossil-fuel energy system about as large as today’s but one that is infused with modern controls and advanced materials and that is almost unrecognizably cleaner. There will be integrated production of power, fuels and heat; greatly reduced air and water pollution; and extensive carbon capture and storage. Alongside the fossil energy system will be a non-fossil energy system approximately as large. Extensive direct and indirect harvesting of renewable energy will have brought about the revitalization of rural areas and the reclamation of degraded lands. If nuclear power is playing a large role, strong international enforcement mechanisms will have come into being to control the spread of nuclear technology from energy to weapons. Economic growth will have been maintained; the poor and the rich will both be richer. And our descendants will not be forced to exhaust so much treasure, innovation and energy to ward off rising sea level, heat, hurricanes and drought". We've already been doing a lot to reduce emissions, but why not do more? It's our planet, and it's our responsibility to take care of it. It may be a lot of work, but it'll pay off in the end when we have a clean and healthy planet.
Author: Robert H. Socolow AND Stephen W. Pacala
- Retreating glaciers, stronger hurricanes, hotter summers, thinner polar bears; signs of global warming
- The current concentration of CO2 is double of the concentration in the 18th century, before the Industrial Revolution
- As societies get richer, the services sector education, health, leisure, banking and soon grows in importance relative to energy-intensive activities
- This shift lowers the carbon intensity of an economy
- Hundreds of power plants are not needed because the world has invested in much more efficient refrigerators, air conditioners and motors
- Hundreds of oil and gas fields have been developed more slowly because aircraft engines consume less fuel and the windows in gas-heated homes leak less heat
- Increasing car fuel efficiency (MPG) from 30 mpg to 60 would reduce emissions from 2 billion tons of carbon to 1 billion
- End the era of coal-fired power plants
- Coal has become more competitive as a source of power and fuel because of energy security concerns and because of an increase in the cost of oil and gas
- A coal power plant burns twice as much carbon per unit of electricity as a natural gas plant
- Of the 14 billion tons of carbon emissions projected for 2056, 6 billion will come from the production of power, mainly coal
- Residential and commercial buildings account for 60 percent of global electricity demand today (70 percent in the U.S.) and will consume most of the new power
- Cut buildings’ electricity use in half by equipping them with super-efficient lighting and appliances
- Renewable power can be produced from sunlight directly, either to energize photo-voltaic cells or, using focusing mirrors, to heat a fluid and drive a turbine
- Hydro-power and wind power
- Oil accounted for 43 percent of global carbon emissions from fossil fuels in 2002, while coal accounted for 37 percent; natural gas made up the remainder
- Lower birth rates
- If global emission of carbon dioxide are no higher in 2056 than they are now, then we accomplished a lot
- "The world will have a fossil-fuel energy system about as large as today’s but one that is infused with modern controls and advanced materials and that is almost unrecognizably cleaner. There will be integrated production of power, fuels and heat; greatly reduced air and water pollution; and extensive carbon capture and storage. Alongside the fossil energy system will be a non-fossil energy system approximately as large. Extensive direct and indirect harvesting of renewable energy will have brought about the revitalization of rural areas and the reclamation of degraded lands. If nuclear power is playing a large role, strong international enforcement mechanisms will have come into being to control the spread of nuclear technology from energy to weapons. Economic growth will have been maintained; the poor and the rich will both be richer. And our descendants will not be forced to exhaust so much treasure, innovation and energy to ward off rising sea level, heat, hurricanes and drought"
Retreating glaciers, stronger hurricanes, hotter summers, thinner polar bears; all signs of global warming. That is exactly what happening right now. The current concentration of carbon dioxide is double the concentration of what it was in the 18th century, before the Industrial Revolution. Many countries are going through the demographic transition. As societies get richer, the services sector education, health, leisure, banking and soon grows in importance relative to energy-intensive activities. This shift lowers the carbon intensity of an economy. Because we have developed more efficient appliances and adopted efficient practices, hundreds of power plants are not needed. In addition, hundreds of oil and gas fields have been developed more slowly because aircraft engines consume less fuel and the windows in gas-heated homes leak less heat.
If we are less dependent on energy and oil now than we were before, why are our greenhouse gas emissions still so high?
Residential and commercial buildings account for 60 percent of global electricity demand today (70 percent in the U.S.) and will consume most of the new power in the future. If we are to sustain ourselves for years to come, we need to figure out effective ways to significantly reduce emissions. One step would be to end the era of coal-fired power plants. Coal has become more competitive as a source of power and fuel because of energy security concerns and because of an increase in the cost of oil and gas. This is not good, since a coal power plant burns twice as much carbon per unit of electricity as a natural gas plant. It is predicted that of the 14 billion tons of carbon emissions projected for 2056, 6 billion will come from the production of power, mainly coal. If we stop using them and switch to cleaner and more renewable sources of energy like solar and air, we won't have to use them anymore, therefore reducing emissions. Another step would be to develop even more efficient lighting and appliances. Hydro-power, wind power, and solar power would help also. Renewable power can be produced from sunlight directly, either to energize photo-voltaic cells or, using focusing mirrors, to heat a fluid and drive a turbine. In addition, lower birth rates would reduce emissions. If there are less people in the future than expected, there would be lower emissions because there would be less consumer goods and less production.
If we can keep global emissions at the level they are right now, then we'll have accomplished a lot. Imagine a world, a world with advanced technology and clean energy. "The world will have a fossil-fuel energy system about as large as today’s but one that is infused with modern controls and advanced materials and that is almost unrecognizably cleaner. There will be integrated production of power, fuels and heat; greatly reduced air and water pollution; and extensive carbon capture and storage. Alongside the fossil energy system will be a non-fossil energy system approximately as large. Extensive direct and indirect harvesting of renewable energy will have brought about the revitalization of rural areas and the reclamation of degraded lands. If nuclear power is playing a large role, strong international enforcement mechanisms will have come into being to control the spread of nuclear technology from energy to weapons. Economic growth will have been maintained; the poor and the rich will both be richer. And our descendants will not be forced to exhaust so much treasure, innovation and energy to ward off rising sea level, heat, hurricanes and drought". We've already been doing a lot to reduce emissions, but why not do more? It's our planet, and it's our responsibility to take care of it. It may be a lot of work, but it'll pay off in the end when we have a clean and healthy planet.