Clean Energy Poised to Phase Out Coal and Avert
Catastrophic Climate Change
by admin on December 3, 2008
Washington, D.C.- New technologies will permit rapid decarbonization of the
world energy economy in the next two decades, according to a new report from
the Worldwatch Institute. These new energy sources will make it possible to
retire hundreds of coal-fired power plants that now provide 40 percent of
the world's power by 2030, eliminating up to one-third of global carbon
dioxide emissions while creating millions of new jobs.
"We no longer need to say ‘in the future' when talking about a low-carbon
energy system," says Christopher Flavin, President of Worldwatch and author
of the report, Low-Carbon Energy: A Roadmap. "These technologies-unlike
carbon-capture facilities-are being deployed now and are poised to make the
most carbon-intensive fossil fuels obsolete."
Reducing dependence on fossil fuels will not only strike a defiant blow to
the climate crisis, it will also act as an agent of recovery for an ailing
global economy. Rebuilding the global energy system has the potential to
create thousands of new businesses and millions of new jobs, starting
immediately.
Decarbonizing the energy economy requires several key steps: the accelerated
deployment of solar, wind, and biomass power plants; integrating variable
power sources with digital smart grids that are more flexible in their
ability to balance demand and supply; developing the capacity to store
energy economically; and selectively adding a new generation of efficient
micro power plants that provide heat as well as reliable electricity when it
is needed.
The new report provides an overview of the state of renewable energy
technologies as well as a roadmap charting their role in the transition to a
low-carbon economy:
* Buildings consume about 40 percent of global energy and emit a comparable
share of carbon dioxide emissions. With technologies available today, such
as more-efficient lighting and appliances and improved walls and windows,
the energy needs of buildings can be reduced by 70 percent or more, with the
investment paid for via lower energy bills.
* Two-thirds of the energy contained in the fuel for most power plants is
converted to waste heat or lost in distribution. Combined heat and power
(CHP) can reduce those losses to less than 20 percent and provide the United
States with 150 gigawatts of generating capacity-more than nuclear power now
provides.
* In 2007, wind power represented 40 percent of new generating capacity
installations in Europe and 35 percent in the United States. Wind power now
costs just under six cents per kilowatt-hour on average-less than natural
gas and roughly even with coal.
* An area covering less than 4 percent of the Sahara Desert could produce
enough solar power to match global electricity demand.
* Investment in new renewable electric and heating capacity equaled an
estimated $71 billion in 2007, up from just $20 billion in 2002.
* By 2006, the U.S. renewables industry had created 386,000 jobs compared
with 82,000 jobs in the coal industry.
* The development of smart electricity grids, the integration of plug-in
electric vehicles, and the addition of limited storage capacity will allow
power to be provided without the "baseload" plants that are the foundation
of today's electricity systems.
Resource estimates show that renewable energy is more abundant than all the
fossil fuels combined. This abundance, together with improved technology and
high energy prices, has created an extraordinarily favorable market for new
energy systems in the past few years.
The immediate challenge for the U.S. Obama Administration and other
governments is to maintain the extraordinary momentum of the past few years
in the face of a financial crisis that has affected all forms of energy
investment. The new industries, which are dominated by small,
under-capitalized companies, are particularly vulnerable. Their success will
depend on targeted and flexible policy design in the months ahead.
"We are on the verge of an energy revolution," says Flavin. "With strong
political leadership, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to use
policy and technology innovation to stave off the greatest human-caused
threat our planet has seen."
Worldwatch Institute - 1776 Massachusetts
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036
Tel 202.452.1999 - Fax 202.296.7365 -
www.worldwatch.org |