BANGKOK, Thailand, May 9, 2007.
Governments could promote increased use of mature renewable energy technologies among a range of options to reduce GHG emissions from the energy sector.
The assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that the world could slow and then reduce global emissions of GHG over the next several decades by exploiting cost-effective policies and current and emerging technologies. Among the mature renewables noted were large hydro, biomass and geothermal, while solar-assisted air conditioning, wave power and nanotechnology solar cells still require more technological or commercial development.
The IPCC report concludes that no single economically and technologically feasible solution would reduce GHG emissions from the energy sector on its own, and that governments could also encourage natural gas over more carbon-intensive fossil fuels and promote carbon capture and storage.
More than US$20 trillion will be invested in upgrading global energy infrastructure until 2030, and the additional cost for altering these investments to reduce GHG emissions would range from negligible to an increase of 5% to 10%, it explains. Based on recent peer-reviewed literature, the report reveals how governments, industry and the public could reduce the energy and carbon intensity of the global economy despite growing incomes and population levels.
“Climate change will touch every corner and every community on this planet but equally, overcoming climate change can touch on every facet of the global economy in a wealth of positive ways,” says Achim Steiner of the UN Environment Programme which, together with the World Meteorological Organization, established the IPCC. “Measures to reduce emissions can, in the main, be achieved at starkly low costs especially when compared with the costs of inaction.”
“Indeed some, such as reducing emissions by 30% from buildings by 2020, actually contribute positively to GDP,” he adds. “It is now up to governments to introduce the mechanisms and incentives to unleash the ingenuity and creativity of the financial and technological markets in order to realise these economic, social and environmental gains.”
The IPCC report, ‘Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change,’ says emissions of GHG will rise 25% to 90% by 2030 over 2000 levels without additional action by governments. By adopting stronger climate change policies, governments could slow and reverse these emissions trends and ultimately stabilise the level of GHG remaining in the atmosphere.
In addition to the electricity sector, the report addresses ways of reducing emissions from other sectors, including buildings where 30% of the projected baseline emissions in the residential and commercial sectors (the highest rate amongst all sectors studied by the IPCC) could be reduced by 2030 with a net economic benefit. Energy consumption can be cut through greater use of passive solar design, high-efficiency lighting and appliances, highly efficient ventilation and cooling systems, solar water heaters, insulation materials, high-reflectivity building materials and multiple glazing.
Efficiency improvements in vehicles risk being overwhelmed by the rapid growth in transport until revolutionary new technologies are introduced, it notes. Biofuels have the potential to replace a substantial part of the petroleum now used by transport.
