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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, US, August 30, 2006
(Refocus Weekly)
Renewables and efficiency could reduce GHG
emissions by 20% within 15 years, according to a report released by
PennEnvironment.
The report, ‘Rising to the Challenge: Six Steps to Cut Global
Warming Pollution in the United States,’ is the first to provide a
national blueprint for achieving short-term reductions in GHG
emissions that are needed to put the U.S. on a path to avoid the
worst effects of a warming world. The report details six feasible
steps to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable
energy.
The strategies, when coupled with mandatory limits on emissions,
would reduce U.S. global warming emissions by 2020 by 19% below 2004
levels, while also improving long-term economic and energy security
in the U.S.
One of the steps is to generate 20% of the country’s electricity
from new green power sources. “America has virtually limitless
potential for the generation of power from natural forces; by
ramping up our use of renewable energy such as wind power, solar
power, geothermal and biomass energy - and using much of that energy
to replace power production at dirty, coal-fired power plants - the
U.S. could dramatically reduce global warming emissions from
electric power production,” it explains.
Other steps involve increasing vehicle gas mileage standards to 40
miles per gallon and setting gas mileage standards for large trucks,
and replacing 10% of vehicle fuel with green fuels or other
alternatives. Energy consumption must be reduced by 10% and
vehicular travel must stabilize, while emissions from other source
must be held to current levels.
“The five strategies listed above would address the largest sources
of energy use and global warming emissions in the U.S. but some
other sources of global warming pollution - such as emissions from
air travel and emissions of some non-carbon dioxide global warming
gases - are projected to increase significantly in the years ahead,”
it explains. “The U.S. must stabilize, and eventually reduce, global
warming pollution from all sectors of the economy.”
“Global warming is the greatest environmental threat of our time for
Pennsylvania and the entire globe,” says Nathan Willcox of
PennEnvironment. “We know that by cutting global warming pollution,
we can defeat this threat, and our report walks through the six
steps that can make these pollution reductions a reality.”
“Extensive scientific evidence demonstrates that global warming is
real, that it is affecting us now, and that human activities -
particularly the burning of fossil fuels - are the primary cause,”
the report explains. “By improving the efficiency with which we use
fossil fuels and increasing our use of clean, renewable energy, the
United States can reduce its global warming emissions in the near
future, while putting America on a path toward dramatically lower
global warming emissions in the decades to come.”
“Shifting away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy can
significantly reduce America’s contribution to global warming,” it
explains. “Across the country, states have pressed forward with
ambitious initiatives to increase the use of wind, solar, geothermal
and other forms of renewable energy for the generation of
electricity.”
“Using renewables to fuel our transportation system is trickier”
because cars and trucks are built to run on liquid fuels,
particularly gasoline and diesel. “For renewables to play a part in
the powering of America’s cars and trucks will require either using
renewable liquid fuels (like cleanly produced ethanol or biodiesel)
or augmenting or replacing liquid fuels with other sources of
energy, such as renewably generated electricity.”
“Improving the energy efficiency of America’s economy and expanding
the use of renewable energy give the United States a golden
opportunity to reduce its emissions of global warming pollution,” it
continues. “Instead of facing constant pressure to build new power
plants to serve ever-growing demand, the nation would have the
ability to finally replace its oldest and most polluting sources of
electricity. To take full advantage of that opportunity, however,
the United States must pair smart energy strategies that promote
energy efficiency and renewables with mandatory limits on global
warming pollution.”
“Countries around the world are demonstrating that renewable power
sources can be ramped up quickly and play a significant role in
their nations’ electricity supplies,” it adds. “The U.S. has
historically been a leader in the deployment of renewable energy
technologies. As recently as 1996, the U.S. had more solar
photovoltaic capacity than any other nation in the world and, as
recently as 1997, the U.S. was number two in wind power capacity,
trailing only Germany.”
“In the years since, however, other nations - primarily European
countries and Japan - have dramatically ramped up their production
of renewable energy,” it eplains. “By 2004, Japan had triple the
solar PV capacity of the United States, while Germany had more than
double the capacity. The U.S. now stands third in installed wind
power capacity behind Germany (which now has twice the wind
generation of the U.S.) and Spain, which has increased its wind
power generation nearly 20-fold in just the last eight years.”
“In several countries, renewable power now represents a sizeable
share of overall electricity generation,” with Denmark generating
16% of its electricity from wind, Spain at 8% and Germany at 5%.
“The growth of renewable energy in these nations is no accident -
rather it is a direct result of aggressive public policies designed
to prioritize renewable energy development.”
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