The NY Times’ Brad Plumer has a sad about how slow green energy is progressing, so he wrote a thinly veiled opinion piece, and, can you guess what his solution is?
Clean Energy Is Surging, but Not Fast Enough to Solve Global Warming
Over the next two decades, the world’s energy system will undergo a huge transformation. Wind and solar power are poised to become dominant sources of electricity. China’s once-relentless appetite for coal is set to wane. The amount of oil we use to fuel our cars could peak and decline.
But there’s a catch: The global march toward clean energy still isn’t happening fast enough to avoid dangerous global warming, at least not unless governments put forceful new policy measures in place to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
That’s the conclusion of the International Energy Agency, which on Monday published its annual World Energy Outlook, a 661-page report that forecasts global energy trends to 2040. These projections are especially difficult right now because the world’s energy markets, which usually evolve gradually, are going through a major upheaval.
Surprise! More government taking more control and power!
Even with the impressive recent gains for renewable energy, the world is still far from solving global warming. Global carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.6 percent last year and are on track to climb again this year. The report projects that emissions will keep rising slowly until 2040.
One reason: Carbon-free sources like wind, solar and nuclear power aren’t yet growing fast enough to keep up with rising global energy demand, particularly in places like India and Southeast Asia. That means fossil fuel use keeps growing to fill the gap.
For this to change, nations will have to enact sweeping new policies, like investing in energy efficiency to slow demand growth, curbing methane leaks from oil and gas operations, and developing carbon capture technology for existing fossil fuel power plants and cement factories.
And taxes and fees! Don’t forget taxes and fees! Funny how it always comes to this.
