For a minute there I thought I had to get off my couch, when all the while the fact is we don't have to do anything much but keep things afloat for just a few decades more! In fact, we'd best shut up about PO, because if our offspring finds out we knew about it all along, they'll turn and wring our necks come 2036!
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2567 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:00 pm Post subject: How can sustainable energy solve greenhouse?
How can sustainable energy solve greenhouse?
Quote:
It’s Mark Diesendorf’s Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, a work that anyone who wants to get to grips with solutions to global warming must have on their shelves.
Diesendorf’s book concentrates into one volume a succinct analysis of global warming, a rebuttal of climate change scepticism, a thorough summary of the state of development of each renewable energy technology, a masterly demolition of false “solutions” to greenhouse (like carbon sequestration and nuclear power) and a presentation of strategies and policies for uprooting carbon-intensive power production in Australia.
The central message of Diesendorf’s book is that “for both stationary energy and transport, 50% reductions in carbon dioxide emissions can be achieved from existing technologies, buying time to develop new technologies and also to greatly improve existing clean technologies”.
For example, in NSW a typical 1000 megawatt coal-fired power station like Mount Piper could be replaced now by a combination of increase in energy efficiency (47% of total), bioenergy (19%), wind power (13%) and gas (21%, although gas generation has roughly half the greenhouse gas emissions as coal).
More generally, if existing “world’s best practice” (like Dutch levels of housing insulation and Spanish levels of wind power), were applied now, a MRET of 25% could readily be reached by 2020, as proposed by Climate Action Network Australia.
So why isn’t this happening? Diesendorf outlines the barriers: “the existing economic structure that emphasises energy-intensive mineral exploitation and processing and the production and export of fossil fuels”, high up-front costs for efficient energy use appliances, energy-intensive urban infrastructure and lack of research and development into sustainable alternatives — especially in comparison to the fossil fuel industries.
To overcome these barriers he proposes a combination of emissions trading schemes or carbon tax; removal of subsidies to the fossil fuel and road transport industries; increased MRETs in states and federally; “feed-in tariffs” that subsidise electricity from renewable resources; tough emissions constraints on new fossil fuel power stations and a big offensive to increase energy efficiency.
greenleft _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
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