Transcript Benefits_of_carbon_neutral_v091509a

Advantages of Carbon Neutrality
Sept 15th, 2009
Presented by Bert Loosmore
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What is carbon neutrality?
Being carbon neutral means having no
aggregate GHG emissions
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Reduction of atmospheric
CO2 concentrations
• Atmospheric CO2 concentrations:
– Pre-industrial: ~ 275 ppm
– Current:
~ 389 ppm
(outside range of natural variability of last 400,000 years)
• Motivation behind goal of carbon neutrality:
– reduce and stabilize atmospheric CO2 to a level below
where it is currently in order to minimize the impact of
climate change
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Isn’t the federal government
taking action on this?
• Proposed federal legislation (i.e. WaxmanMarkey)
– will have a questionable impact
– is based on outdated and incomplete scientific
knowledge
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Impact of 2C temp increase
From Schmidt et al at www.realclimate.org:
“Even a “moderate” warming of 2°C stands a strong
chance of provoking drought and storm responses that could
challenge civilized society, leading potentially to the conflict
and suffering that go with failed states and mass migrations.
Global warming of 2°C would leave the Earth warmer than it
has been in millions of years, a disruption of climate
conditions that have been stable for longer than the history of
human agriculture. Given the drought that already afflicts
Australia, the crumbling of the sea ice in the Arctic, and the
increasing storm damage after only 0.8°C of warming so far,
calling 2°C a danger limit seems to us pretty cavalier.”
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/04/hit-the-brakes-hard/
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≤ 350 ppm as a safe goal
From James Hansen:
“If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to
that on which civilization developed and to which life on
Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate
change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its
current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm. ”
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/2008/TargetCO2_20080407.pdf
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The role of personal actions
• Since legislation alone will be inadequate,
personal action is necessary
• In fact, J. Holdren (Obama’s science advisor)
suggested:
“nothing in the policies actually requires
sacrifices”
• Personal emissions account for ~1/3 of total U.S.
emissions, so as individuals we have a powerful
lever we can use
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327191.200-interview-america-turns-red-white-and-green.html
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The bathtub analogy
faucet
tub
drain
GHG Emissions
Atmospheric CO2
Concentration (ppm)
Natural Sequestration
(forests, soils, oceans)
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/the-greenhouse-effect-and-the-bathtub-effect/
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Our goal is to reduce the level
in the tub!
• The level in the tub is rising
– Anthropogenic sources are still increasing!
– Drains may be clogging a bit
• Stabilizing emissions is only part of the problem
• Stabilizing climate requires
– Sources equal sinks
– Effects of long feedback loops (30+ yrs) to have taken
place
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Achieving ≤ 350 ppm
• Reducing atmospheric CO2 can be achieved
with:
– no additional emissions,
– letting earth’s natural systems (forests, soils,
oceans, possibly with some improvement) work
to reduce the atmospheric concentration
• Hence, reduction to ≤ 350 ppm means
turning off the faucet, or being carbon
neutral as fast as possible
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My 2009 CO2 footprint
Estimated emissions (mton C02):
Electricity
3.29
12.1%
10.87
40.0%
My car (16 mpg)
4.81
17.7%
Wife’s car (23 mpg)
3.79
14.0%
Air travel
4.40
16.2%
Natural Gas
Total
27.16
• Knowing where I am helps
inform decisions about where
to make improvements
Initial 2010 ideas:
• Install higher efficiency
boiler, and/or solar water
pre-heat
• Perform house blower test
• Lower the thermostat
• Switch to increased mpg
vehicles
• Reduce air travel
• Join a CRAG
Offset the rest
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The role of voluntary carbon
offsets
• Allow individuals to mitigate GHG
emissions
• Represents the reduction of a set amount of
CO2e (e.g. 1 mton)
• Projects include renewable energy, methane
collection, reforestation, etc.
• Current prices between $10 - $30/mton
• Offsets alone aren’t the solution!
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Personal CO2 emissions
Reduce, Offset, Iterate
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
…
Year n
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The IslandVision Commitment:
Supporting Mercer Island residents on their
journey toward carbon neutrality
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