Transcript Responses to climate change Adaptation

Fundamentals of
climate change policy
Adaptation + Mitigation
Summary of key lessons learned
throughout this semester
1. The Earth is warming,
2. Most of the recent warming is very likely
due to human activities,
3. Warming over the next century will
likely be a few degrees Celsius,
4. Such warming carries with it a risk of
serious impacts for humans and the
Earth’s ecosystems
Responses to climate change
1. Adaptation
• Means learning to live with climate change.
• Adaptation does not require a collective decision
be made to adapt. When individuals realize they
are being harmed by a changing climate, they will
initiate action to reduce the harm.
• Adaptation in advance is always cheaper than
adaptation after an event.
• Adaptation requires resources and many of
the world’s poorest inhabitants have few
resources and therefore little ability to adapt.
2. Mitigation
Refers to reduction emissions of greenhouse
gases, thereby preventing the climate from
changing in the first place.
2.1 Technologies to reduce carbon intensity
• Carbon intensity means a measure of how
much greenhouse gas is emitted to
generate a unit of energy (CO2/Joule)
• Reducing carbon intensity is code for switching
from conventional combustion of fossil fuels to
energy sources that do not release greenhouse
gases, often referred to as climate-safe energy
sources.
• These include nuclear energy, carbon capture
and sequestration, and energy sources known as
renewable energy, because these energy sources
are not depleted when utilized: primarily
hydroelectric, solar, wind and biomass energy.
• Biomass energy refers to the process of growing
crops and then burning them to yield energy
(such as corn-based ethanol).
Nuclear energy
Solar panels
Wind turbines
Corn based ethanol
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) = carbon
sequestration
• Fossil fuel is burned in such a way that the
CO2 generated is not vented to the
atmosphere. Rather, the CO2 is captured
and placed in long term storage.
• The most likely place to put the CO2 is to
inject it deep underground into porous
sedimentary rocks which are distributed
widely around the world.
2.2 Policies to reduce carbon emissions
A key part of policies designed to encourage
transition to climate-safe energy is to put a price on
emissions of greenhouse gases, which are presently
free.
• A carbon tax is a fee intended to
make users of fossil fuels pay for
climate damage their fuel use
imposes by releasing carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere,
and also to motivate switches to
cleaner energy.
• Sweden enacted a tax on carbon
emissions in 1991. Currently, the
tax is $150/Ton CO2.