In these cases, CCS can provide a solution consistent with current demands and give the time needed to develop future alternative approaches. Alternative technologies that can replace current production techniques are not yet available at the scale needed, so it is expected that these techniques will persist in the short to medium term. For example, in some industrial applications such as cement and steel production, emissions come from both the energy use and the production process. Renewables cannot be used uniformly across the energy system to replace the use of fossil fuels today, mostly because of the variance in the ability of different energy subsectors to switch from fossil fuels to renewables. This assertion is supported by the Fifth Assessment Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which estimates that limiting energy sector emissions without CCS would increase the cost of climate mitigation by 138 per cent. Including an expansion of the use of CCS will be essential, and this technology is expected to result in 16 per cent of annual emissions reduction by 2050. Energy efficiency and renewables are often positioned as the only solutions needed to meet climate goals in the energy system, but they are not enough. The need to reduce emission does not preclude the use of fossil fuels, but it does require a significant change in direction business as usual is not consistent with decreasing emissions in global energy systems. There are a number of emission reduction opportunities for the energy sector, notably reducing the amount of energy consumed and reducing the net carbon intensity of the energy sector by fuel switching and by controlling CO 2 emissions. That level of emissions would have disastrous climate consequences for the planet. If current trends continue, in other words, if the current share of fossil fuels is maintained and energy demand nearly doubles by 2050, emissions will greatly surpass the amount of carbon that can be emitted if the global average temperature rise is to be limited to 2 oC. Renewable biomass used in this way is a problem for sustainable development. These are highly inefficient and polluting, especially for indoor air quality in many less-developed countries. Further, much of the biomass fuels are currently used around the world in small scale heating and cooking. Inasmuch as methane and other short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) emissions are believed to be severely underestimated, it is likely that energy production and use are the source of an even greater share of emissions. All technologies have a role to play in an energy system guided by rational economics.įossil fuels comprise 80 per cent of current global primary energy demand, and the energy system is the source of approximately two thirds of global CO 2 emissions. This will thereby allow fossil fuels to become "part of the solution", rather than remain "part of the problem". Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and managing methane emissions throughout the fossil energy value chain can help meet ambitious CO 2 emission reduction targets, while fossil fuels remain part of the energy system. The reality is that this debate is much more nuanced and requires more thorough investigation. This assumption has also led to a perception of “good” renewables-based technologies in global energy systems today, on the one hand, and “bad” fossil fuels-based technologies, on the other. These developments have led invariably to an assumption that we are “done” with fossil fuels across the energy system, that there is no need for further development of new resources, and that we have to stop using them as soon as possible. Dramatic price reductions and technological advancement of wind generators and solar photovoltaics have shown that these renewable energy resources can be important players in global electricity systems, and that the long-anticipated breakthrough in cost-effective storage technology would shift primary energy mixes substantially. Ongoing progress in the development of new technologies has brought confidence and hope that these objectives will be met in the energy system. It is therefore critically important to address climate change as part of the sustainable development agenda. Equally important, however, is the need to ensure access to energy for quality of life and for economic development. LII, Sustainable EnergyĬlimate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time.
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