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Clean technology can partially make up for weak CO2 pricing
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/pifc-ctc013015.php[font face=Serif]Public Release: 2-Feb-2015
[font size=5]Clean technology can partially make up for weak CO2 pricing[/font]
[font size=4]Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)[/font]
[font size=3]Clean technology support can to some extent make up for weak CO[font size=1]2[/font] pricing and hence help keep the two degrees target within reach, a new study shows. Even if the world climate summit in Paris later this year is successful in striking a climate deal, it might not bring about sharp greenhouse-gas cuts in the near-term. However, emission targets could be strengthened by complementary policies.
The complementary policies could be support for renewables, a ban on new coal-fired power plants, and an initially modest global minimum price on CO[font size=1]2[/font]. If such a policy package - each component of which has already been enacted in some countries - were to be put into practice globally now, this could also pave the way for a clean economy with faster long-term CO[font size=1]2[/font] reductions after 2030.
"Economic theory suggests that we'd need a global price on greenhouse-gas emissions to keep warming below the 2 degrees Celsius threshold, and this price would probably have to be more than 30 US dollars per ton of CO[font size=1]2[/font], previous studies showed," says lead author Christoph Bertram of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). "This seems rather unrealistic, given the track record of policies so far enacted." This is why the new analysis examines second-best policy mixes. "For the first time, we can show that until 2030 a sub-optimal price for CO[font size=1]2[/font] of only 7 US dollars can initiate a necessary transformation of the energy system if at the same time states enact a range of technology polices."
…
Technology support schemes could take various forms, from feed-in tariffs to quotas for low-emission electricity sources or tax credits, but also direct support for technological innovation, including the demonstration and upscaling of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Regulating the most polluting technologies should complement that. If only renewables are pushed into the market, as currently seen in Germany, the use of natural gas decreases while use of cheap but dirty coal remains unaffected or even expands.
…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2514[font size=5]Clean technology can partially make up for weak CO2 pricing[/font]
[font size=4]Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)[/font]
[font size=3]Clean technology support can to some extent make up for weak CO[font size=1]2[/font] pricing and hence help keep the two degrees target within reach, a new study shows. Even if the world climate summit in Paris later this year is successful in striking a climate deal, it might not bring about sharp greenhouse-gas cuts in the near-term. However, emission targets could be strengthened by complementary policies.
The complementary policies could be support for renewables, a ban on new coal-fired power plants, and an initially modest global minimum price on CO[font size=1]2[/font]. If such a policy package - each component of which has already been enacted in some countries - were to be put into practice globally now, this could also pave the way for a clean economy with faster long-term CO[font size=1]2[/font] reductions after 2030.
"Economic theory suggests that we'd need a global price on greenhouse-gas emissions to keep warming below the 2 degrees Celsius threshold, and this price would probably have to be more than 30 US dollars per ton of CO[font size=1]2[/font], previous studies showed," says lead author Christoph Bertram of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). "This seems rather unrealistic, given the track record of policies so far enacted." This is why the new analysis examines second-best policy mixes. "For the first time, we can show that until 2030 a sub-optimal price for CO[font size=1]2[/font] of only 7 US dollars can initiate a necessary transformation of the energy system if at the same time states enact a range of technology polices."
…
Technology support schemes could take various forms, from feed-in tariffs to quotas for low-emission electricity sources or tax credits, but also direct support for technological innovation, including the demonstration and upscaling of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Regulating the most polluting technologies should complement that. If only renewables are pushed into the market, as currently seen in Germany, the use of natural gas decreases while use of cheap but dirty coal remains unaffected or even expands.
…[/font][/font]