How to Prevent Higher CO 2 Concentrations

Transcription

1 How to Prevent Higher CO 2 Concentrations! Higher CO2 levels mean higher temperatures eventually: how to avoid? Emissions are increasing rapidly Is flattening out emissions enough?

2 Is Stabilizing Emissions Enough?! No! Flattening out CO 2 emissions still leads to large increases in CO 2 concentrations! Imagining blowing air into a balloon: you have to stop blowing into it to stop it from getting bigger! " (The real system is a little less extreme than this, as the ocean can take up a small amount of emissions) Emissions Concentrations Flat emissions lead to concentrations that increase

3 How To Stabilize Concentrations! Stabilization at these concentrations. "! requires these cuts in emissions "

4 Paths to CO 2 stabilization VI V IV II To stabilize at 450 ppm I drastic & immediate emissions cuts are necessary emissions today

5 Stabilizing atmospheric CO 2 at ~ 500ppm" In 2004, Pacala and Socolow proposed a scheme to achieve this goal" Phase 1: No further increase in emissions until 2054, with energy production still increasing rapidly. Ramping up existing technologies to do this." Phase 2: After 2054, rapid reductions in global emissions. Final emissions of all GHGs must level off by ~2100 to ~ 1.5 Gt/yr, or ~20% of present global emissions."

6 Past Emissions 14 Billion of Tons of Carbon Emitted per Year 7 Historical emissions (380) (320) Values in parentheses are ppm of CO 2

7 The Emission Stabilization Triangle 14 Billion of Tons of Carbon Emitted per Year (530) 7 Historical emissions (380) Stabilization Triangle Flat path O Copenhagen Pledge (470) Interim Goal (320) Interim 2054 goal: stabilize emissions immediately (yet increase energy by ~70% in 2054) and invest in technology to have much more energy with reduced emissions after that Pacala and Socolow (2004)"

8 The Stabilization Triangle: settle for double (560) or triple (840) pre-industrial CO 2? Or more??? 21 (830) GtC/yr 14 (530) (750) 7 Historical emissions (380) Flat = Act Now (470) Stabilization triangle (320) 1.5 (500) (850) (500) (850) (500) Values in parentheses are ppm (1 ppm = 2.1 GtC). Stabilizing at 500ppm requires the global emission be 1.5 Gt/yr by 2100 Pacala and Socolow (2004)"

9 Wedges 14 Billion of Tons of Carbon Emitted per Year 14 GtC/y Seven wedges 7 Historical emissions Flat path O 7 GtC/y How do we meet the increase in energy demand (projected to increase by 70% by 2050 and 200+% by 2100) without increasing emissions of CO 2? Pacala and Socolow (2004)"

10 What is a Wedge? A wedge is a strategy to reduce carbon emissions that grows in 50 years from zero to 1.0 GtC/yr. Total = 25 Gigatons carbon 1 Gt C/yr 50 years Cumulatively, a wedge redirects the flow of 25 Gt C in its first 50 years. Pacala and Socolow (2004)"

11 The Interim Goal is Within Reach Reasons for optimism that global emissions in 2055 need not exceed today s emissions: The world today has a terribly inefficient energy system. Carbon emissions have just begun to be thought about being priced. Most of the 2055 physical plant is not yet built Pacala and Socolow (2004)"

12 Fill the Stabilization Triangle with Seven Wedges There are 15 different options for this! Each challenging but feasible Energy Efficiency Methane Management 14 GtC/y Decarbonized Electricity Forests & Soils Stabilization Triangle GtC/y Decarbonized Fuels Fuel Displacement by Low-Carbon Electricity

13 Stabilization Wedges

14 Wind Electricity Effort needed by 2055 for 1 wedge: One million 2-MW windmills displacing coal power. In 2008 we had about 120,000 MW (1/17 of this) That s 20,000 a year worldwide over 50 years. The new 154-meter rotor for the six-megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine being installed in Østerild, Denmark. Image Credit: Siemens Energy Read more at R. Socolow (per. comm.)"

15 Pholtovoltaic (solar) Power Effort Needed by 2055 for one wedge: 2000 GW peak (700 times current capacity) 2 million hectares (about 12% the size of Washington): roofs can be used though Would require 14% increase per year (we re currently increasing at 30% per year) Graphics courtesy of DOE Photovoltaics Program

16 Nuclear Electricity Effort needed by 2055 for 1 wedge: 700 GW displacing coal power (tripling current capacity). No new nuclear power plants have been built in the US for a long time, because of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl problems. Problem with waste disposal. NIMBY Graphic courtesy of NRC R. Socolow (per. comm.)"

17 Fuel Switching Effort needed by 2055 for 1 wedge: Substitute 1400 natural gas electric plants for an equal number of coal-fired facilities Photo by J.C. Willett (U.S. Geological Survey). One wedge requires an amount of natural gas equal to that used for all purposes today

18 Carbon Capture & Storage Effort needed for 1 wedge by 2055 Implement CCS at 800 GW coal electric plants Effort needed for 1 wedge each by 2055 Implement CCS at 1600 GW natural gas electric plants Graphic courtesy of Alberta Geological Survey There are currently three storage projects that each inject 1 million tons of CO 2 per year by 2055 need 3500.

19 Efficient Use of Electricity industry buildings power Effort needed by 2055 for 1 wedge: Use best efficiency practices in all residential & commercial buildings Changing all light bulbs to CFL would be 1/3 of a wedge! 25% - 50% reduction in expected 2055 electricity use in commercial and residential buildings R. Socolow (per. comm.)"

20 Efficient Generation of Electricity Effort needed by 2055 for 1 wedge: Improve the efficiency of coal power plants from 40% to 60%, and double efficiency from which we take fossil fuels from the ground. power R. Socolow (per. comm.)"

21 Efficient Use of Fuel Effort needed by 2055 for 1 wedge: Decrease the number of miles driven per car: 5,000 instead of 10,000 miles per year. Effort needed by 2055 for 1 more wedge: Double fuel efficiency of cars: 60 mpg instead of 30 mpg.

22 Biofuels Effort needed by 2055 for 1 wedge: 2 billion 60 mpg e cars running on biofuels instead of gasoline and diesel. To produce these biofuels: 250 million hectares of high-yield (15 t/ha) crops, one sixth of world cropland. Challenge: To find ecologically responsible ways to grow biomass for power and fuel on hundreds of millions of hectares. Usina Santa Elisa mill in Sertaozinho, Brazil ( getrec= &display_type=verbose&search_reverse=1_

23 Deforestation Eliminate all tropical deforestation

24 Reforestation Plant new forests over an area the size of the continental U.S.

25 Conservation Tillage Use conservation tillage on all cropland (1600 Mha) Leaves at least 30% of crop residue on the surface Stores more carbon within the soil Conservation tillage is currently practiced on less than 10% of global cropland (and 40% of US croplands)

26 Do wedge strategies get used up? Is the second wedge easier or harder to achieve than the first? Are the first million two-megawatt wind turbines more expensive or cheaper than the second million two-megawatt wind turbines? The first million will be built at the more favorable sites. But the second million will benefit from the learning acquired building the first million. The question generalizes to almost all the wedge strategies: Geological storage capacity for CO 2, land for biomass, river valleys for hydropower, uranium ore for nuclear power, semiconductor materials for photovoltaic collectors.

27 Summary: What s appealing about wedges?! The stabilization triangle! Does not concede doubling CO2 is inevitable! Shortens the time frame to within business horizons! The wedge! Decomposes a heroic challenge (the Stabilization Triangle) into a limited set of monumental tasks! Establishes a unit of action that permits quantitative discussion of cost, pace, risk, trade-offs, etc! The wedge strategy! Does not change the fact there are winners (alternative energies) and losers (coal and oil become more expensive sources of energy), but brings many options to the table

28 Stabilization Wedges 15 Ways to Cut Carbon = Electricity Production, =Heating and Direct Fuel Use, =Transportation, = Biostorage Strategy Sector Description 1 wedge could come from Cost Challenges 1. Efficiency Transport Increase automobile fuel efficiency (2 billion cars projected in 2050) doubling the efficiency of all world s cars from 30 to 60 mpg $ Car size & power 2. Conservation - Transport Reduce miles traveled by passenger and/or freight vehicles cutting miles traveled by all passenger vehicles in half $ Increased public transport, urban design 3. Efficiency - Buildings Increase insulation, furnace and lighting efficiency using best available technology in all new and existing buildings $ House size, consumer demand for appliances 4. Efficiency Electricity Increase efficiency of power generation raising plant efficiency from 40% to 60% $ Increased plant costs 5. CCS Electricity CO 2 from fossil fuel power plants captured, then stored underground (700 large coal plants or 1400 natural gas plants) injecting a volume of CO 2 every year equal to the volume of oil extracted $$ Possibility of CO 2 leakage 6. CCS Hydrogen Hydrogen fuel from fossil sources with CCS displaces hydrocarbon fuels producing hydrogen at 10 times the current rate $$$ New infrastructure needed, hydrogen safety issues 7. CCS Synfuels Capture and store CO 2 emitted during synfuels production from coal using CCS at 180 large synfuels plants $$ Emissions still only break even with gasoline 8. Fuel Switching Electricity Replacing coal-burning electric plants with natural gas plants ( GW coal plants) using an amount of natural gas equal to that used for all purposes today $ Natural gas availability 9. Nuclear Electricity Displace coal-burning electric plants with nuclear plants (2 x current capacity) ~3 times the effort France put into expanding nuclear power in the 1980 s, sustained for 50 years $$ Weapons proliferation, nuclear waste, local opposition 10. Wind Electricity Wind displaces coal-based electricity (30 x current capacity) using area equal to ~3% of U.S. land area for wind farms $$ Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) 11. Solar Electricity Solar PV displaces coal-based electricity (700 x current capacity).. using the equivalent of a 100 x 200 km PV array $$$ PV cell materials 12. Wind Hydrogen Produce hydrogen with wind electricity powering half the world s cars predicted for 2050 with hydrogen $$$ NIMBY, Hydrogen infrastructure, safety 13. Biofuels Biomass fuels from plantations replace petroleum fuels scaling up world ethanol production by a factor of 30 $$ Biodiversity, competing land use 14. Forest Storage Carbon stored in new forests halting deforestation in 50 years $ Biodiversity, competing land use 15. Soil Storage Farming techiques increase carbon retention or storage in soils practicing carbon management on all the world s agricultural soils For more information, visit our website at 12 $ Reversed if land is deep-plowed later