Seven Solution Areas
THE SEVEN SOLOUTION AREAS OF OUR 2020 CLIMATE LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGN
1) Reducing reliance on fossil fuels
Global warming is due to our addiction to fossil fuels, which comprise 80% of our economies. Virtually everything human beings do from the way they prepare their food, heat their homes, transport themselves, and consume products and services is based on use of fossil fuels. All our plastics, for example, are based on petroleum and so are most of our cosmetics. We must understand that our way of life is releasing 70 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every day. To stop this we have to stop using fossil fuels.
One effective way to do this is to begin to tax carbon emissions while simultaneously creating tax incentives for clean technologies and renewable energy. Environmental tax restructuring has been going on for some time in Europe. A four-year plan adopted in Germany in 1999 systematically shifted taxes from labor to energy. By 2003, this plan hadreduced annual CO2emissions by 20 million tons and helped tocreate approximately 250,000 additional jobs. It also accelerated growth in the renewable energy sector, creating some64,000 jobs by 2006 in the wind industry alone, a number thatis projected to reach 103,000 by 2010. Between 2001 and 2006, Sweden shifted an estimated $2 billion in taxes from income to environmentally destructiveactivities. This shift of some $500 per household came from hikesin taxes on electricity, fuel, and CO2emissions. The governmentestimates that without carbon taxes, emissions would be 20% higher than they are now. Other countries using taxshifting include Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, andthe United Kingdom.
2) Implementing energy efficiencies
Simply conserving energy is the quickest and most effective way to stop global warming. Most homes and offices lose 40-50% of their energy simply because windows and doors are not insulated and the structure of the building and the materials used are not designed for energy conservation. In the US, for example, buildings use roughly 70% of all electricity consumed and produce 40% of the CO2 released. Simply retrofitting buildings and making them more energy efficient would save 20-40% of CO2 emissions. Individuals can switch to compact fluorescent lighting, unplug electronic devices when not in use, invest in proper insulation and replace older refrigerators to newer more energy efficient models.
Investing in energy efficiency to offsetincreasing energy demand is oftencheaper than expanding the energysupply to meet that demand.Efficiency investments typically yield a high rate of return and can help fight climate change byavoiding additional CO2emissions.In stark contrast to the InternationalEnergy Agency’s projected 30% growth in global energy demand by 2020, realizing efficiency measures alonewould lead to a 6% decline inglobal primary energy demand from2006 levels by 2020. Beyond theseproductivity gains, because producingpower from fossil fuels generateslarge amounts of waste heat (andwasted heat equals wasted energy),simply shifting from fossil fuels torenewables would further reduceprimary energy demand in the energy economy.
3) Developing renewable energy
While capitalizing on energy efficiency measures allows the world to off-set the projected increase in energy demand, switching to renewable sources of energy puts us on the path to slashing net carbondioxide emissions 80 percent by 2020 and shifting the basis of human civilization to energy sources that are clean, renewable and sustainable. The first priority is toreplace all coal- and oil-fired electricity generation with renewableenergy sources. Just as the nineteenth century belonged to coaland the twentieth century to oil, the twenty-first century mustbelong to the sun, the wind, and energy from within the earth. The major renewable energy sources:
Wind Energy: World wind electricity generating capacity has expanded from17,000 megawatts in 2000 to over 100,000 megawatts in 2008.At the country level, Germany has installed the most windpower,with 22,000 megawatts supplying 7 percent of its electricity.Next come the United States, Spain, India, China,and Denmark. Denmark leads the world in the national shareof electricity from wind, now at 20 percent. Its goal is to push that to 50 percent, with most of the additional power comingfrom offshore wind farms.
Solar: Production of solar cells that directly convert sunlight intoelectricity is doubling every two years. Worldwide, cumulativeproduction now tops 12,400 megawatts. While many of the initial installations were off the electrical grid, utilities are now beginning to capitalize on the enormous otherwise-unused area of rooftops as a ready source for distributedpower generation. Concentrated solar thermal power projects, which capture heat from sunlight to generate steam that drives a turbine generation, show that producing electricity from the sunon a large scale can beprofitable. Algeria,now a leading oilexporter, has plans todevelop 6,000megawatts of solarthermal electric generating capacityfor export to Europevia undersea cable. Aproject on that scalecould meet the house-hold electricity demand of a country the size of Portugal.
Geothermal: It is widely known within the energy community that there isenough solar energy reaching the earth each hour to power theworld economy for one year, but few people know that theheat in the upper six miles of the earth’s crust contains 50,000times as much energy as found in all the world’s oil and gasreserves combined. The potential of geothermal energy to pro-vide electricity, to heat homes and greenhouses, and to supplyprocess heat for industry is vast. Iceland currently heats close to 90 percent of its homes withenergy from the earth. In the Philippines, 25 percent ofelectricity comes from geothermal power plants. In El Salvadorthe figure is 22 percent. Other countries rich in geothermalenergy are those bordering the Pacific in the so-called Ring ofFire, including Chile, Peru, Mexico, the United States, Canada,Russia, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Australia, as well as thecountries along the Great Rift Valley of Africa and thosearound the Eastern Mediterranean. A 2006 MassachusettsInstitute of Technologystudy found that forthe United States, aninvestment of $1 billion in geothermal research and development—roughly thecost of one coal-firedpower plant—couldyield 100,000megawatts of electricity generating capacity from enhancedgeothermal systems by 2050, the equivalent of 250 coal-firedpower plants.
4) Creating clean technologies
There are a host of clean technologies emerging that are not dependent on fossil fuels and therefore do not pollute the atmosphere with CO2. These include renewable energy, information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry and energy efficient appliances and technologies. The purpose of clean technologies is to dramatically reduce the use of natural resources and cut if not eliminate emissions and waste. The three main clean technology sectors are solar photovoltaics, wind power, and biofuels.
Investments in clean technologies are burgeoning. Biofuel companies alone received a record $148 billion in 2007 alone. Over-all investment in clean energy and energy efficient technologies rose 60% from 2006 – 2007.
5) Cleaning up natural systems
Even as we shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, we must clean up our natural systems. Almost every aspect of the world’s environment - from water, soil, air, oceans, forests, and rivers - is polluted and needs to be cleaned up. In terms of global warming, the most effective short term action that can be taken is to stop cutting down our forests. In the last fifty years, we have cut down 50% of the world’s forests.
Deforestation has already been banned in some areas to moderate flooding, stabilize soils, and prevent erosion. Because theworld’s remaining forests store massive amounts of carbon, theimpetus for forest protection now goes beyond local environmental protection to global climate protection. Stopping forestdestruction will involve reducing wood and paper consumption,boosting recycling, and curbing the pressures to deforest thatcome from population growth and the expansion of agricultureand rangelands. By ending net deforestation, we can cut 2020CO2emissions by 1.5 billion tons.
A newly plantedtree in the tropics canremove 50 kilograms ofCO2from the atmosphereeach year during itsaverage lifespan of 20–50 years. A tree inthe temperate regionscan take in 13 kilograms. New treesplanted on the 171million hectares ofdegraded land thatcan be profitablyreclaimed around the world could, by 2020, take upover 950 million tonsof CO2.
In late 2006, the UN EnvironmentProgram, inspired by Nobel Peace Prizewinner Wangari Maathai, announced plans fora worldwide effort to plant 1 billion trees inone year. This initial target was easily exceeded, and by mid-2008, more than 2 billion treeshad been planted in more than 150 countries.Leaders include Ethiopia with 700 milliontrees, Turkey with 400 million, and Mexicowith 250 million.
6) Creating sustainable lifestyles
At the heart of any successful 2020 strategy is transforming our lifestyles. Ordinary citizens can all become climate leaders by coming to terms with the reality that all of our lifestyles are as unsustainable as our corporate practices and government policies. All of us are contributing to global warming and therefore all of us need to solve it. Roughly 25% of global warming is due to how we live and what we eat. That’s as much as all our transportation pollution combined. For example, reducing showers by two minutes reduces carbon emissions by over 30 kilos per month.
Everything we do that is powered by fossil fuels has a CO2 cost, and it adds up — just like credit card debt. Some actions, like commuting in a gasoline-powered car, have obvious carbon costs. Others are less clear but still significant. Take our diets, for example. Cows are responsible for an estimated 18% of global carbon emissions, so when we eat a hamburger, we are effectively emitting CO2 as well. Even something as small as a cell phone or an iPod will add to your carbon footprint, thanks to both the energy used to produce and ship it and the energy later needed to charge it.
People can help stop global warming by limiting beef in their diet, driving or flying less, reducing the amount of power used at home whenever possible, either through conservation or with appliances that are more energy-efficient. They can also radically reduce their consumption of products. Rather than throw things away, have them fixed and use them for as long as possible. The most effective way for the common citizen to become a climate leader is to conserve energy. We must learn to increase prosperity without growth.
7) Establishing a culture of sustainable growth
We must replace the myth of growth at all costs, which is the basis of the fossil fuel economy, with the notion of prosperity without growth. The natural systems do not have to be consumed to increase our GDP. We do not have to throw everything away to generate jobs and profits. Climate protection and economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive.
Core strategies to create a vibrant economy – innovation, efficiency, strategic investment, and finding better ways to use and reuse resources – are exactly the same steps we need to cope with global climate change. These actions will increase jobs, incomes, productivity, and competitiveness, and they’re all green. The idea of moving from “resource-wasting capitalism” to “resource-saving capitalism” is simply good business practice.
Numerous corporations, including DuPont, General Electric, IBM, and Nike, are practicing innovation, efficiency, and conservation to enhance their productivity and competitiveness. DuPont responded to “peak oil” by switching from petrochemicals to life science bio-products, substantially improving its profitability through saving $3 billion and expanding revenues by producing goods that are better for the environment.
At the state level, Californians saved $56 billion on electricity expenses over the past three decades through improved energy efficiency, primarily from state and local government policies requiring higher standards for buildings and electrical appliances and providing financial incentives for utility companies, businesses, and households to conserve energy and use renewable sources. Private consumers reinvested much of this savings in the state's economy, directly contributing to higher economic growth and greater prosperity by generating 1.5 million full-time jobs with total annual income of $45 million.
Summary
Cutting CO2 emissions by 80% and creating a culture of sustainability by 2020 will require a world-wide mobilization.
• To prevent global energy demand from increasing, we must begin massive investments inenergy efficiency.
• To cut carbon emissions we must:
· replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources for electricity and heat production (33%)
· restructure our transportation systems and reduce coal and oil use in industry (14%)
· end deforestation worldwide (16%)
· plant billions of trees and manage soils tosequester carbon (17%)
• To become sustainable, energy efficient and resilient, we must transform our lifestyles and create a culture of sustainability.
If we do this, we can develop a culture of prosperity without growth based on the natural systems of the earth.
- 446 reads