Breaking News on Glasgow Climate Change Conference
I have been reading the progress reports from the various committees and it is apparent that the discussions are open and educational. The participants understand what is at stake and the various actions necessary to reduce carbon and methane emissions. The problem is now that we understand what is necessary, and have some data on what it is going to cost, who is going to pay for it? I’ve seen numbers bandied around from $173 Trillion to $250 Trillion. The world’s current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is just over $80 Trillion with over half of that concentrated in the USA, China, and Europe. Most of the world’s population has no GDP to spare.
To reach zero carbon by 2050 this means that the USA, China, and Europe are going to have to invest roughly one quarter of their GDP for the next twenty-years to reach zero carbon by 2050. Do you see how idiotic that is? It is not going to happen and that is why there are good political vibes coming out of the Glasgow meeting but no real commitments.
Mankind’s best hope is to invest one to two percent of GDP on energy storage and nuclear energy technologies that could significantly reduce the investment costs associated with zero-carbon energy sources. If successful, the world could then replace their fossil-fuel energy plants as they wear out in twenty years with these new cheaper non-polluting plants and we can achieve our zero carbon goal a few years late, but affordably.
Unfortunately, as far I can tell this approach was not put forward in Glasgow.
Comments