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Scientists concerned climate targets unable to slow down global warming

Published on 29 July 2015 Global

A Filipino couple watches the cracked bottom of a dried lake in a park in a suburb of Manila on June 6, 2015. (Photo: AFP/Jay Directo)A Filipino couple watches the cracked bottom of a dried lake in a park in a suburb of Manila on June 6, 2015. (Photo: AFP/Jay Directo)

As countries pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions before the UN climate change conference in France at the end of the year, scientists are worried that the commitments may not be sufficient, and that current technology may not be enough to slow down the effects of global warming.

MANILA: At a conference in Paris on Jul 7-10, more than 2,000 scientists discussed debated and proposed ideas on dealing with the effects of climate change.

Momentum is building ahead of the UN conference on climate change at the end of the year. It aims to reach a deal to limit global warming to a 2°C rise in temperature, but this will not be easy.

The target would require a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 70 per cent below current levels by 2050, and emissions must be zero or even negative by the end of the 21st century.

"We should have done this 20, 30 years ago,” said Dr. Nebojsa Nakicenovic, a professor of energy economics at Tu Wien. “That means that we will probably overshoot the target of 2°C and might have to deploy advanced technologies such as taking carbon out of the atmosphere, biomass and carbon capture storage or afforestation."

These advancements are the direction that energy technology needs to take, according to the director of the Global Climate and Energy Project.

"We need to increase the utilization of local resources improving energy security,” said Dr Sally Benson, a professor of energy resources engineering at Stanford University. “We need to radically reduce the energy intensity; we need to radically reduce carbon intensity."

Dr. Benson says future technologies could allow customers to participate in energy systems such as electric cars and grid scale energy storage. More advanced technology focused on removing as much carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere as possible are also expected.

But this would come at a cost.

"They're all projected to be required at some stage in the future but my analysis has looked at some of the implications of these in terms of cost, energy, land use and water and none of these is a magic bullet as you might expect,” Dr. Pete Smith, a professor at the Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences at University of Aberdeen.

“Some of them are very, very expensive. Some require a lot of energy to be put into them so where do we get that energy without causing more emissions? Some of them require large areas of land like bioenergy and afforestation."

While scientists cannot tell politicians what to do or what policies to set in the upcoming UN conference on climate change, they do play a big role in showing the various risks and opportunities available - as well as working together towards a future solution to combat global warming.

 

 

Source: Channel News Asia | 26 July 2015