Print ArticleSolving climate change is no longer about technology. It's about economic reform.
Renewable energy now presents a better long-term deal than fossil fuel and nuclear. The reason is -- quite simply -- that "next-generation" nuclear and carbon capture and storage simply aren't available. Renewables are. By 2015 and 2020, when carbon capture and nuclear "might" be ready, renewables will be much cheaper. Thus, fossil fuels and nuclear are losers both on availability and price.
The low-cost pathway to greenhouse gas emission reductions is clear. Between now and 2010, greenhouse gas abatement can be implemented through demand management techniques like raising base electricity prices and passing along peak power prices to consumers and encouraging replacement of high energy use lightbulbs with lower energy lightbulbs. These days, such huge inefficiencies bedevil the energy industry that merely curbing these will produce huge energy and greenhouse gas savings.
By 2010 new renewable energy resources like wind, geothermal and concentrating solar power can come on line. Already, investment is flowing into these. All government need do is get out of the way and cease putting up obstructions. Once online, these new sources of electricity can enable the world's fleet of dirty and geriatric coal plants to be progressively relegated to standby status.
By 2015, if carbon capture and storage and next generation nuclear are ready and proven, voters should be able to decide on deployments through national referendums. Carbon capture and storage and nuclear are massive subsidy sinks and present serious safety hazards to populated areas. Voters should have a say.
Following the timetable above creates a virtuous cycle. Proper market prices will shift investment toward renewables. As more renewables are brought on line, the need for global military spending will be reduced because wind, sun, geothermal and biomass are easier to protect than oil and gas supplies from politically inhospitable Middle Eastern sources. Futhermore, renewables make use of educated domestic brains instead of paying resource rents to unstable and corrupt regimes.
The next 30-50 years will see the largest largest replacement and expansion of electricity generation capacity since electricity was invented. The smart money is already betting on renewables. Venture capital is flowing into concentrating solar power and geothermal. These are following investments already made in wind and solar PV. These will be joined, presumably, by venture capital investments in things like tidal power, wave power and new other technologies yet to pop out of the brains of smart people.
Under this vision, coal need not be knocked out of the equation. Aging coal-fired power plants should be kept online, but on the sidelines. That way, they can supply peak power if needed. But new coal-fired capacity should not be built.
Reformed energy prices, transparently costed energy alternatives and eliminated legacy subsidies for coal are enough to solve the world's energy problems. Fixing climate change isn't about technology anymore. It's about economic reform. What government needs to do is remove the cement shoes placed around renewable energy technology.
Huge amounts of new capacity in concentrating solar power -- a potentially massive energy resource -- is under construction in the United States and Spain. The same can be said for geothermal, wind, wave energy and countless other whizbang techhnologies. We're all going to be pleasantly surprised by the upside in these new deployments. They are going to change the way we think about energy.
Together, wind, geothermal and concentrating solar -- not to mention other clean energy sources we haven't even heard of yet -- will be able to meet all our energy needs before unproven, untested and still fictitious "clean coal" and "safe nuclear" are even off the drawing boards.
Renewable energy now presents a better long-term deal than fossil fuel and nuclear. The reason is -- quite simply -- that "next-generation" nuclear and carbon capture and storage simply aren't available. Renewables are. By 2015 and 2020, when carbon capture and nuclear "might" be ready, renewables will be much cheaper. Thus, fossil fuels and nuclear are losers both on availability and price.
The low-cost pathway to greenhouse gas emission reductions is clear. Between now and 2010, greenhouse gas abatement can be implemented through demand management techniques like raising base electricity prices and passing along peak power prices to consumers and encouraging replacement of high energy use lightbulbs with lower energy lightbulbs. These days, such huge inefficiencies bedevil the energy industry that merely curbing these will produce huge energy and greenhouse gas savings.
By 2010 new renewable energy resources like wind, geothermal and concentrating solar power can come on line. Already, investment is flowing into these. All government need do is get out of the way and cease putting up obstructions. Once online, these new sources of electricity can enable the world's fleet of dirty and geriatric coal plants to be progressively relegated to standby status.
By 2015, if carbon capture and storage and next generation nuclear are ready and proven, voters should be able to decide on deployments through national referendums. Carbon capture and storage and nuclear are massive subsidy sinks and present serious safety hazards to populated areas. Voters should have a say.
Following the timetable above creates a virtuous cycle. Proper market prices will shift investment toward renewables. As more renewables are brought on line, the need for global military spending will be reduced because wind, sun, geothermal and biomass are easier to protect than oil and gas supplies from politically inhospitable Middle Eastern sources. Futhermore, renewables make use of educated domestic brains instead of paying resource rents to unstable and corrupt regimes.
The next 30-50 years will see the largest largest replacement and expansion of electricity generation capacity since electricity was invented. The smart money is already betting on renewables. Venture capital is flowing into concentrating solar power and geothermal. These are following investments already made in wind and solar PV. These will be joined, presumably, by venture capital investments in things like tidal power, wave power and new other technologies yet to pop out of the brains of smart people.
Under this vision, coal need not be knocked out of the equation. Aging coal-fired power plants should be kept online, but on the sidelines. That way, they can supply peak power if needed. But new coal-fired capacity should not be built.
Reformed energy prices, transparently costed energy alternatives and eliminated legacy subsidies for coal are enough to solve the world's energy problems. Fixing climate change isn't about technology anymore. It's about economic reform. What government needs to do is remove the cement shoes placed around renewable energy technology.
Huge amounts of new capacity in concentrating solar power -- a potentially massive energy resource -- is under construction in the United States and Spain. The same can be said for geothermal, wind, wave energy and countless other whizbang techhnologies. We're all going to be pleasantly surprised by the upside in these new deployments. They are going to change the way we think about energy.
Together, wind, geothermal and concentrating solar -- not to mention other clean energy sources we haven't even heard of yet -- will be able to meet all our energy needs before unproven, untested and still fictitious "clean coal" and "safe nuclear" are even off the drawing boards.
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