by Graeme » Wed 09 Nov 2011, 19:19:52
FL, Thanks for your contribution. Your response is similar to that announced by the IEA and other climate analysts. The IEA seems less concerned now with PO and more worried about CC. The IEA are now urging nations (esp USA and China) to speed up the transition from ff to renewables and adopt a low-carbon future asap, ideally within five years!
World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be "lost for ever", according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.
Anything built from now on that produces carbon will do so for decades, and this "lock-in" effect will be the single factor most likely to produce irreversible climate change, the world's foremost authority on energy economics has found. If this is not rapidly changed within the next five years, the results are likely to be disastrous.
"The door is closing," Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. "I am very worried – if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever."
guardianphysorgHere's the response from the EU Climate Commissioner (quoted from physorg link above):
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he share of fossil fuels in global primary energy consumption falls from around 81 percent today to 75 percent in 2035, while renewables increase from 13 percent of the mix today to 18 percent.
This scenario already assumes a huge boost in subsidies for renewables, from $64 billion today to $250 billion in 2035.
"One wonders how many more worrying figures the world needs," commented Connie Hedegaard, the European Union's climate commissioner.
The report "shows that the world is heading for a fossil-fuel lock-in. This is another urgent call to move to a low-carbon economy," she said in a statement.
Setting a global price on carbon, slashing fossil fuel subsidies, boosting renewable energy and energy efficiency and revised tax codes are all tools for achieving that end, she added.