Converting to or replacing with the worst-polluting 150 of the world's 8000 power stations to clean energy would have the same greenhouse emissions reduction effect as taking every single car in the world off the road.
Wind energy is the world's fastest growing source of energy. Its price has fallen by 90 per cent since the 1980s.The world will have to increase investment in climate-friendly technology by up to $210 billion a year over 23 years in order to return greenhouse emissions back to current levels by 2030, a 2007 UNFCCC study found. Carbon emission permit prices in industrialised countries need to reach $50 a tonne of CO2e by 2020 and $110 by 2030 for industry to deliver the required low-emission energy alternatives to beat dangerous climate change. A 2005 assessment by the European Commission estimated that cutting EU emissions annually by about 1.5 per cent would reduce the EU's economic output by the year 2025 by 0.5 per cent compared to business as usual. A 2005 European Commission study found that the average cost per car to meet EU targets of reducing CO2 emissions in cars to 120g/km would be 577 euros. But fuel savings from the greater resulting engine efficiency over the lifetime of the vehicle's use would be worth almost twice that figure. The International Energy Agency estimated in 2005 there would be a 43 per cent increase in global coal use from 2000 to 2020. Between 30 and 40 per cent of total world energy use is in buildings - for heating, cooling, lighting, cooking and ventilation - according to 2007 UN Environment Programme estimates. This offers great potential for greenhouse emission reductions from applying energy efficient building standards. The International Energy Agency estimates suggest that a global phase-out of incandescent light globes from 2007 in favour of energy efficient bulbs, like compact fluorescents, could save 470 million tonnes of CO2 a year by end 2010.
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