Is it possible to have a zero-carbon economy in the world? This is only possible if the government is bold enough to pursue a policy that accelerates the production of clean electricity. Can we limit climate change?
Looking At The Prospects
If we look at the prospects, in the year 2100, the world will enjoy cheap zero-carbon energy. Museums are the only ones that use coal, and the use of gas and oil has drastically reduced. We need a zero-carbon global economy to prevent the potentially catastrophic climate change. Therefore, we need a strategic view and strong policy support.
Electricity will be dominating. At this moment, we only use 20 percent of electricity as energy. Fossil Fuels are the primary energy source for transport, for heating and heavy industry. However, all of the above could be powered by electricity, which would be way more effective.
How Close Are We to Zero-Emissions Electricity?
Batteries Instead Of Fuel
For example, electric engines are far more effective, like for 90 percent more than internal-combustion engines. Electric motors are easier to produce, it is cheaper, because you need batteries instead of gas, and you will compensate that within five years. So, electric vehicles are less expensive than gasoline or diesel vehicles. Another example, electric heat pumps can deliver more residential heat than a gas boiler (3 kilowatt-hours for one kilowatt of energy input instead of 0,9 kWh for the same input with a gas boiler).
Molten salt battery
At this moment we cannot rely on batteries only for long-distance flights or intercontinental shipping. We have to wait a few decades because batteries are too heavy to power. It is supposed that ship engines could burn ammonia instead of fuel oil. Ammonia could be a zero-carbon fuel if it is produced from hydrogen. Something to wait for in the future...
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The Role Of Hydrogen
Hydrogen will have a crucial role in the future in the decarbonization process. You can use hydrogen as a fuel or as an essential chemical input. By 2050, we could create a global economy in which electricity supplies 65-70 percent of final demand for energy and hydrogen, ammonia, or synthetic fuel supplies another 12-15 percent.
By then, fossil fuels and bioenergy would only be about 20 percent of the total energy use. Could we have a zero-carbon economy?
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The Benefits Of Using Electricity
It would have enormous environmental benefits when using electricity. We could reduce wasted heat, pollution, noise produced by burning fossil fuels. To build this kind of economy, we need about 90,000 TWh, compared to the 23,000 TWh right now. But it has to be produced in a zero-carbon way, and this is almost impossible. We could use solar energy; the costs have decreased, and the sun has enough power to cover humans' daily energy needs 8,000 times. Battery costs have dropped by more than 80 percent since 2010 and are expected to reduce with a further 50% by 2030.
All of this makes it inevitable that we will enough clean and cheap energy. We need to prevent catastrophic climate change. The use of fossil fuels still rises, and global warming is increasing.
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Strong Government Policies
The macroeconomic cost of such an attempt is not at all discouraging: the total additional investment needed to build a decarbonized economy by 2050 is about 1-1.5 percent of global GDP per year. But the necessary acceleration will not take place without strong government policies.
We can only achieve the goals mentioned above if we acknowledge we need to purify electricity. We need to use hydrogen to have a zero-carbon economy. It is challenging for governments to set some goals to use more renewable energy. The strategies for road transport should focus on the complete removal of internal combustion engines from our roads by 2050 at the latest. This requires a ban on the sale of new internal combustion engines. Moreover, a carbon price is crucial for industrial decarbonization to take place economically. Lastly, governments should encourage new technologies with first-time application grants, which have quickly helped reduce the cost of photovoltaic solar technology, wind turbines, and batteries.
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Policies like this should help the world to create a zero-carbon economy very quickly. We could limit climate change, but if we do not take the right measures soon enough, it could be too late...
Before you go!
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