Moving Toward One Energy Future Part 2: Improved Storage and Efficiency Posted January 25, 2017 by Evan Evans Although the global economy grew by nearly 3% in 2015, global energy-related carbon emissions remained constant, according to the International Energy Agency. Some of this is due to efficiency improvements and a significant contributor is the slowdown in China’s economy, but the main factors are the change in our energy supply with more focus on renewables and a switch from coal to natural gas as a fuel source, as explored in Part One of this series. Consensus about the necessity of carbon emissions reductions was formed at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) and formal targets were outlined by countries at the 2016 Conference (COP22) in Marrakesh. To reach these aggressive and necessary targets, there are three possible levers: 1) Reduce consumption of energy services; 2) Maintain level of energy services – even increase it – but do so while improving energy efficiency; and 3) Increase use of Read More
Moving Toward One Energy Future Part 1: Cheaper and More Abundant Renewables Posted January 18, 2017 by Evan Evans 2017 may be the year that the world finally gets serious about climate change and embraces the vision that there is only one viable, sustainable energy future. Consensus about carbon emissions reductions was formed among the nations participating in the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris. The commitments to a low-carbon future that emerged from Paris have now been translated into country-specific targets at COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco. Together, these country targets lay out the road map by which the world’s people can collectively make aggressive reductions in carbon emissions and thereby achieve a manageable level of climate disruption. Many milestones in renewable energy have been reached in the past few years. For example, the delivered cost of renewable energy, in many cases, is now cheaper than energy delivered from fossil-fuel sources; and the amount of renewable energy capacity additions now exceed non-renewable capacity additions. Renewables are Getting Cheaper In Read More
