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from the my-solar-panels-are-covered-in-soot dept.
Ken_g6 writes:
Wired today reports on continued coal use around the world and efforts to promote carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Today coal produces more than 40 percent of the world's electricity, a foundation of modern life. And that percentage is going up: In the past decade, coal added more to the global energy supply than any other source. Nowhere is the pre-eminence of coal more apparent than in the planet's fastest-growing, most populous region: Asia, especially China.
Many energy and climate researchers believe that CCS is vital to avoiding a climate catastrophe. Because it could allow the globe to keep burning its most abundant fuel source while drastically reducing carbon dioxide and soot, it may be more important - though much less publicized - than any renewable-energy technology for decades to come. No less than Steven Chu, the Nobel-winning physicist who was US secretary of energy until last year, has declared CCS essential. "I don't see how we go forward without it," he says.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs projects that solar power will be cost-competitive with other electricity sources in the US by 2033. So will we build more coal plants or tear them down?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday April 01 2014, @02:34AM
Well, that's certainly not an argument of "Do nothing cause other are polluting more. Better wait until you are the top polluter".
Besides some say [worldwildlife.org] China could be capable to cover it's 80% of energy needs from renewables by 2050. And the Chinese seem [theguardian.com] pretty determined [chinamoneynetwork.com] to do so [spiegel.de] (guess what: the last link mentions Germany as best positioned to assist with the transition).
(I can only wish you'd stop being so obsessed with what country is ahead/winning - it's the people that matter, not the countries. Seriously, it blinds you in discerning what's essential)
Given that most of the currencies are fiat money, the price of fuel at the pump is almost irrelevant. Especially when comparing countries with different traditions (read: "way of doing things"), different population densities and different public transport coverages. What is more important is the quality of life, what people can do with those money. To exemplify:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday April 01 2014, @03:43AM
Do nothing because others are not only polluting a lot more than you are, they are able to increase their degree of polluting because you are sacrificing for them. Because Germany demands less oil, for example, China is able to consume more oil. Because Germany has exported some of its manufacturing elsewhere, due to high energy prices, then China is able to capture more of the manufacturing sector and pollute more as a result.
I can only wish you'd stop being so obsessed with what country is ahead/winning
The number one way a system fails is defection - someone finds a way to game the system at the expense of others. Voluntary greenhouse gases reduction measures only reward those who don't honor them. Here, the defections happen at the country level, hence, my obsession.
As to Germany's quality of life, they've been preying on the weaker members of the EU (another system with country level defection). How are they going to fare in the future when those food sources are no longer around? I guess I'm getting obsessed again.