September 02, 2019

Meeting Climate Goals With Current Energy Infrastructure

Listen Later

2 minutes

The Paris Climate Agreement set forth a goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius as well as a more optimistic (and preferable) goal of keeping the temperature rise to less than 1.5 degrees. Reaching either of these goals requires getting to net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.

A new paper, published in Nature, looks at the issue

of whether existing power plants and other fossil-fuel-burning equipment

(including vehicles) can continue to operate until they age out of

functionality, or whether they need to be retired early.

The results of the study are that future

emissions from existing facilities would take up the entire carbon budget

needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and almost 2/3 of the budget

needed to keep warming below 2 degrees over the next 30 years.

So, the good news is that we can still

avoid a 2-degree rise without having to shut down all the existing power plants

early. But we would definitely have to

stop building new things with smokestacks and tailpipes that dump CO2

into the atmosphere.

That good news is tempered by the fact that

the number of fossil fuel-burning power plants and vehicles in the world has

increased dramatically over the past decade, spurred by rapid economic and

industrial development in China and India.

In fact, China is predicted to produce more than 40% of all the carbon

emissions over the next 30 years.

The 2-degree climate goal is not at all the

most desirable result. The 1.5-degree

target would be far better for the climate.

But if the world is to achieve it, there will be dramatic changes needed

in the existing infrastructure – either shutting it down or retrofitting it to

drastically reduce emissions.

**********

Web Links

Two-Degree Climate Goal Attainable Without Early Infrastructure Retirement

Photo, posted March 5, 2010, courtesy of Tennessee Valley Authority via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more

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Earth Wise

By Randy Simon

4.7

1515 ratings

September 02, 2019

Meeting Climate Goals With Current Energy Infrastructure

Listen Later

2 minutes

The Paris Climate Agreement set forth a goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius as well as a more optimistic (and preferable) goal of keeping the temperature rise to less than 1.5 degrees. Reaching either of these goals requires getting to net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.

A new paper, published in Nature, looks at the issue

of whether existing power plants and other fossil-fuel-burning equipment

(including vehicles) can continue to operate until they age out of

functionality, or whether they need to be retired early.

The results of the study are that future

emissions from existing facilities would take up the entire carbon budget

needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and almost 2/3 of the budget

needed to keep warming below 2 degrees over the next 30 years.

So, the good news is that we can still

avoid a 2-degree rise without having to shut down all the existing power plants

early. But we would definitely have to

stop building new things with smokestacks and tailpipes that dump CO2

into the atmosphere.

That good news is tempered by the fact that

the number of fossil fuel-burning power plants and vehicles in the world has

increased dramatically over the past decade, spurred by rapid economic and

industrial development in China and India.

In fact, China is predicted to produce more than 40% of all the carbon

emissions over the next 30 years.

The 2-degree climate goal is not at all the

most desirable result. The 1.5-degree

target would be far better for the climate.

But if the world is to achieve it, there will be dramatic changes needed

in the existing infrastructure – either shutting it down or retrofitting it to

drastically reduce emissions.

**********

Web Links

Two-Degree Climate Goal Attainable Without Early Infrastructure Retirement

Photo, posted March 5, 2010, courtesy of Tennessee Valley Authority via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more