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How technology can help fight climate change
MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER
Globe and Mail
December 12, 2007
Dealing with climate change often seems like an insurmountable task. Scientists and governments, including many at the Bali talks, have said carbon-dioxide emissions have to be chopped by at least 50 per cent by the middle of the century, and then even more later on.
While that may seem like a high hurdle, a handful of promising technologies exist that could make huge cuts in emissions that don't involve the drastic, lifestyle-altering changes frequently advanced by environmentalists.
Currently available technologies for cars, lighting and energy generation could cut carbon dioxide releases by 50 per cent, or even more, although at a price higher than high-polluting alternatives.
The most promising automotive development is plug-in hybrids, cars with enough battery power to drive about 30 to 50 kilometres. They're considered the next step in car evolution beyond the current hybrids, which don't have enough battery power to provide much range for electricity-only travelling.
Transportation accounts for one-quarter to one-third of greenhouse-gas emissions globally, so curbing releases from the sector is crucial.
Plug-in hybrids could cut greenhouse-gas releases between 36 per cent and 62 per cent compared with using gasoline, according to several recent studies. Electric motors are about 50-per-cent more efficient than internal-combustion engines, said Felix Kramer, founder of the California Cars Initiative, a Palo Alto-based non-profit that has been lobbying car companies to make plug-in vehicles.
With that kind of efficiency gain, running cars using electricity makes sense, even where electricity is supplied using dirty, coal-fired power plants. Because much of the electricity system is idle at night, when demand for power is low, cars could be recharged without the need to build large numbers of new power plants.
"You basically want to power as much as you can ... electrically. That's the winning strategy if you had to say: 'How can the world solve global warming?' " Mr. Kramer said.
Plug-in hybrids are not a pie-in-the-sky development. They're technically feasible now, although retrofits are somewhat costly, at more than $10,000 each.
In 2006, Mr. Kramer converted his Prius hybrid to a plug-in, giving it a range of 22.5 to 40 kilometres, depending on his speed. "I drive it every day, and it's great," he said.
There are currently fewer than 150 hybrid cars converted to plug-ins, but they might become increasingly available soon. General Motors, a car maker that is in the forefront of plug-in development, hopes to have its version, dubbed the Volt, available in late 2010.
Another idea that holds intriguing possibilities is pairing plug-in hybrids with wind turbines. Currently, there is a big drawback with electricity from wind: Power generated at night typically isn't needed and can't be effectively stored.
"A fleet of hybrid cars and a country with wind farms scattered from coast to coast would fit together very nicely because the batteries in the cars become the storage facility for wind energy," said Lester Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute in Washington.
Wind power on its own is being viewed as the most promising carbon dioxide fighter in the electricity sector. The emission reductions are huge compared with producing the same amount of power through coal generation.
Worldwatch Institute, a Washington environmental think tank, estimated that the 15,200 megawatts of new wind turbines installed in 2006 offset carbon dioxide emissions of 23 average U.S. coal-fired plants or about eight million cars, displacing 43 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. New wind capacity this year will displace 45 million tonnes, according to the organization's senior researcher, Janet Sawin.
"The potential for wind power is huge. In the United States, for example, the wind resources of Kansas, North Dakota and Texas alone are, in principle, enough to provide all of the electricity the nation uses today. Wind resources are also vast in China and many other countries around the world," Ms. Sawin said.
Lighting is another area where many experts see room for carbon-dioxide reductions, given that it uses about 20 per cent of the electricity generated worldwide.
It's well known that compact fluorescent bulbs can cut electricity use by about 75 per cent, compared with incandescent bulbs, which are being banned in parts of Canada and other countries. But that's considered only a first step. Light-emitting diodes, lights that resemble computer chips, will likely be able to cut usage by a further 50 per cent, according to Scott Riesebosch, president of CRS Electronics, an LED manufacturer based in Welland, Ont. "We're making the product that's going to replace fluorescent products," Mr. Riesebosch said.
The company makes a replacement for halogen bulbs that cuts electricity consumption by 87 per cent. Even though the LED lights cost $80 each, they pay for themselves in reduced power usage, reduced need for air conditioning in office buildings and their longer lives, typically 20 times longer than halogens.
mmittelstaedt@globeandmail.com
MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER
Globe and Mail
December 12, 2007
Dealing with climate change often seems like an insurmountable task. Scientists and governments, including many at the Bali talks, have said carbon-dioxide emissions have to be chopped by at least 50 per cent by the middle of the century, and then even more later on.
While that may seem like a high hurdle, a handful of promising technologies exist that could make huge cuts in emissions that don't involve the drastic, lifestyle-altering changes frequently advanced by environmentalists.
Currently available technologies for cars, lighting and energy generation could cut carbon dioxide releases by 50 per cent, or even more, although at a price higher than high-polluting alternatives.
The most promising automotive development is plug-in hybrids, cars with enough battery power to drive about 30 to 50 kilometres. They're considered the next step in car evolution beyond the current hybrids, which don't have enough battery power to provide much range for electricity-only travelling.
Transportation accounts for one-quarter to one-third of greenhouse-gas emissions globally, so curbing releases from the sector is crucial.
Plug-in hybrids could cut greenhouse-gas releases between 36 per cent and 62 per cent compared with using gasoline, according to several recent studies. Electric motors are about 50-per-cent more efficient than internal-combustion engines, said Felix Kramer, founder of the California Cars Initiative, a Palo Alto-based non-profit that has been lobbying car companies to make plug-in vehicles.
With that kind of efficiency gain, running cars using electricity makes sense, even where electricity is supplied using dirty, coal-fired power plants. Because much of the electricity system is idle at night, when demand for power is low, cars could be recharged without the need to build large numbers of new power plants.
"You basically want to power as much as you can ... electrically. That's the winning strategy if you had to say: 'How can the world solve global warming?' " Mr. Kramer said.
Plug-in hybrids are not a pie-in-the-sky development. They're technically feasible now, although retrofits are somewhat costly, at more than $10,000 each.
In 2006, Mr. Kramer converted his Prius hybrid to a plug-in, giving it a range of 22.5 to 40 kilometres, depending on his speed. "I drive it every day, and it's great," he said.
There are currently fewer than 150 hybrid cars converted to plug-ins, but they might become increasingly available soon. General Motors, a car maker that is in the forefront of plug-in development, hopes to have its version, dubbed the Volt, available in late 2010.
Another idea that holds intriguing possibilities is pairing plug-in hybrids with wind turbines. Currently, there is a big drawback with electricity from wind: Power generated at night typically isn't needed and can't be effectively stored.
"A fleet of hybrid cars and a country with wind farms scattered from coast to coast would fit together very nicely because the batteries in the cars become the storage facility for wind energy," said Lester Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute in Washington.
Wind power on its own is being viewed as the most promising carbon dioxide fighter in the electricity sector. The emission reductions are huge compared with producing the same amount of power through coal generation.
Worldwatch Institute, a Washington environmental think tank, estimated that the 15,200 megawatts of new wind turbines installed in 2006 offset carbon dioxide emissions of 23 average U.S. coal-fired plants or about eight million cars, displacing 43 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. New wind capacity this year will displace 45 million tonnes, according to the organization's senior researcher, Janet Sawin.
"The potential for wind power is huge. In the United States, for example, the wind resources of Kansas, North Dakota and Texas alone are, in principle, enough to provide all of the electricity the nation uses today. Wind resources are also vast in China and many other countries around the world," Ms. Sawin said.
Lighting is another area where many experts see room for carbon-dioxide reductions, given that it uses about 20 per cent of the electricity generated worldwide.
It's well known that compact fluorescent bulbs can cut electricity use by about 75 per cent, compared with incandescent bulbs, which are being banned in parts of Canada and other countries. But that's considered only a first step. Light-emitting diodes, lights that resemble computer chips, will likely be able to cut usage by a further 50 per cent, according to Scott Riesebosch, president of CRS Electronics, an LED manufacturer based in Welland, Ont. "We're making the product that's going to replace fluorescent products," Mr. Riesebosch said.
The company makes a replacement for halogen bulbs that cuts electricity consumption by 87 per cent. Even though the LED lights cost $80 each, they pay for themselves in reduced power usage, reduced need for air conditioning in office buildings and their longer lives, typically 20 times longer than halogens.
mmittelstaedt@globeandmail.com
), these technologies have an immense potential to reduce the pressure on demands for oil and natural gas - which will only be getting more expensive in the future.