Posted on August 04, 2015 07:58:00 PM
A SHIFT to clean energy alternatives from coal-fired plants is needed to avert further increases in global temperatures, an American economist and special United Nations advisor yesterday said.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, told an Asian Development Bank-sponsored forum that economies, particularly the rich countries need to “decarbonize”, a move drastically reducing the use of coal as an energy source.
Otherwise, “business-as-usual” carbon emissions would result to a 4-6.1 degrees Celsius (˚C) increase in temperatures. To keep temperature increases in check at 2 ˚C, Mr. Sachs said large-scale mitigation is required.
“To do that, we have to decarbonize,” Mr. Sachs said.
At present, Mr. Sachs said a coal-fired power plant emits 1,100 grams of carbon dioxide for every kilowatt hour it produces. A gas-fired power plant, on the other hand, emits 500 grams for the same amount of power produced.
“But we need to get not to 750 grams or 500 grams by midcentury, we need to be at 50 grams,” Mr. Sachs said in his presentation, titled “Deep Decarbonization”.
To achieve decarbonization, governments should adopt three main strategies, he said: energy efficiency, clean power and switching to electric sources.
Increasing energy efficiency, he said, would lead to “significant savings” in power consumption but would need require thorough capital investments, he said.
By 2050, Mr. Sachs said households, industries, transportation and other electricity users should reduce the share of fossil fuels in the electricity supply and increase investments in other sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and nuclear.
“Most of the energy we produce, most of the power, should be zero carbon. That is fundamental,” he said.
For the transportation sector, Mr. Sachs said gasoline-run vehicles should eventually be reduced to a bare minimum and the production and use of electricity vehicles, hybrid cars and other alternatives using clean energy should be increased by 2050.
Industries should likewise shift the requirements of heat processes to electricity from overdependence on coal, he said.
Switching to cleaner energy alternatives, Mr. Sachs said, comes with a manageable increase in costs.
“The incremental cost could realistically be well under 2% of global output per year. It’s a no-brainer,” he said. The technology, he added, is already “within sight”. -- Mikhail Franz E. Flores source
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