After A Climate Deal Part 2 - How Will It Effect Us?

In part 1 of this mini-series, I speculated about whether a climate deal would fall apart before it had any effect. This time round, I assume the deal goes ahead as planned, taking a look at the effects the deal might have on our lives.

• Energy efficiency: Amongst the most cost effective ways of cutting carbon emissions is by improving energy efficiency. New buildings will be better insulated, use less energy and produce their own energy. Old buildings will be retrofitted with similar effects. As a result, home owners and businesses will have greatly reduced fuel bills. And buildings are only the beginning - Energy efficiencies can be found with vehicles, laptops, domestic appliances, and just about anything else that uses energy. All these things will save us money.
• Transport:  It seems unlikely that gas-guzzlers like 4x4's, SUV's, sports cars and the like will be targeted, as that would have little impact on the overall carbon footprint. Instead, expect a push for new vehicles to be increasingly cleaner and incentives to move over to them. I don't expect electric and hydrogen vehicles to be out-selling petrol and diesel ones any time soon due to their relative costs. Same goes for hybrids. Some governments may try to tax petrol/diesel off the road but, as the UK discovered, that's politically dangerous. Public transport will be improved where feasible but only in cities. Shipping and aviation will fast become significant contributors to global emissions. At the moment, they seem to be excluded from U.N. climate negotiations. I doubt they'll escape for long.
• Coal-fired power stations will have to be quickly phased out (10 to 15 years) or have carbon capture installed. Expect a growth of hydro, tidal, wave, nuclear, natural gas, and biomass energy schemes to replace them. Also expect the air to get a lot less polluted as coal is phased out.
• Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has struggled to get off the ground, but it may be a only way of keeping coal fired stations in the mix (whilst other forms of energy catch up). Many have tried to make it happen (The UK and Norway amongst them) to no avail. When someone does eventually get a cost effective method going, it will be a game changer for the climate and worth billions.
• Carbon pricing: This, and carbon trading, was once seen as the answer to climate change - Let the market sort it out by making fossil fuels more expensive and therefore renewables more competitive. However, carbon pricing seems to have disappeared from the U.N. climate change agenda. Not sure why. Possibly because carbon trading has thus far proven to be a difficult tool to get right (Ask the E.U. who have made a right mess of it). Maybe because carbon pricing is seen, quite wrongly, as a stealth tax.
• Energy storage: Solar and wind are intermittent energy sources, unlike say, coal or nuclear which are constant. However, if you store spare renewable energy in times of low demand and use it during times of high demand, it becomes more like a constant source. A lot of progress has been made in energy storage lately, and I expect it to only improve. Once they get this going, then renewables will replace fossil fuels even quicker.
• Super-grids: Meeting energy demand whatever the conditions even during peaks in demand is essential to modern day society. By connecting up very large areas (like the whole of Europe) in one supergrid, it's easier to do this. Watch out for countries getting increasingly inter-connected.
• Reforestation: Expect a lot of  forests to be re-planted. They take carbon from the atmosphere, clean water supplies, prevent soil erosion, and protect coastlines. What's not to like?
• In it together: A strong, worldwide climate deal could prove to be a rallying call to millions around the planet to get behind the deal and make it happen for the sake of future generations. Imagine that: Bringing the peoples of the world together for a common purpose.
• A new dawn: Hopefully any deal made in Paris will be ambitious enough that we will have to get very clever to meet our targets. It could spark the dawn of a new age of science, bringing forward technology we haven't even thought of yet. It could prove the catalyst for a future we can only dream of.

A strong climate deal will have a transformative effect on the way energy is delivered and used. We will therefore do things very differently in the future, both as individuals and as a society. However, I suspect we'll see this as a good thing.

Economic Growth Whilst Preventing Dangerous Climate Change

Some climate sceptics would have us believe that saving the planet from climate change would cost too much. They therefore argue for business-as-usual and adapting to whatever comes our way (As if that were possible!).

A better alternative is where we head off climate change whilst continuing global economic growth. But how is that possible? Well, this item shows what may be possible with better city planning, improved energy efficiency, and more intelligent land use.

Solar Could Provide 25% of World's Electric by 2050

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says solar power could provide a quarter of our electricity demand by 2050. This would save around 6 gigatonnes of carbon per year.

Around 16% of the electric would come from solar PV (Solar panels) and 11% from solar thermal.

More detail here.

World Can Prosper While Tackling Climate Change

According to a calculator created for the UK government, it would be possible for the world's population to have a European lifestyle whilst preventing the global temperature rising any more than 2 degrees C.

You can read more about how this can be achieved here. Whilst the calculator is here.

So, if we can fight climate change whilst continuing economic growth, where's the problem? Answer: There isn't one. Let's get on with saving the planet for our kids.

Bank of England Boss Sees Climate Change Threat

This week, Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, warned a gathering of leading insurers that climate change poses a huge threat to future global stability. He is concerned that we may not do enough in the present to avoid profound problems in the future. As he said: "The far-sighted amongst you are anticipating broader global impacts on property, migration and political stability, as well as food and water security." but the current generation hs little incentive to fix the problem. "In other words, once climate change becomes a defining issue for financial stability, it may already be too late."

As ever, Carney, provides us with words of wisdom. His words are largely economically motivated but he reaches the same conclusion as the most ardent tree hugger: We need act now, and we need to act decisively.

More here.