Net-zero is not good enough to stay below 1.5°C
At the January 2020 World Economic Forum, Greta Thunberg asked world leaders to stop funding fossil fuels and promote carbon-free energy. “It is too late to transfer to a low-carbon economy, and a net-zero goal is not good enough.” Please see this ridiculous YouTube video, “Greta Thunberg at Davos 2020 DEMANDS 0 Emissions Right now!!!”
More than 7 billion people and most life on Earth is at high risk of extinction from excess carbon dioxide emissions. The U.S. claims to have reduced more emissions in 2019 than any other country, but the facts show U.S. emissions fell at a significantly lower rate compared with other countries.
Governments lie. The UK burns U.S. Southeastern forests as so-called “carbon-neutral” wood pellets, the EPA ignores leaks from natural gas pipelines and storage to claim NG is better than coal, and the U.S. exports Liquefied Natural Gas as a climate solution. Please see this dishonest YouTube video, “Why Natural gas could be the fuel that changes the World.”
Uninhabitable planet
According to a May 8 report in Science Advances, “The emergence of heat and humidity are too severe for human tolerance.” Climate experts had anticipated this would happen sometime in the future, but the future is now. In some areas of the Persian Gulf and the U.S. Gulf Coast, healthy humans with abundant water and proper clothes would die outdoors. Our bodies are designed to maintain a core body temperature between 89.6 °F and 104 °F. Sweat glands help the body stay cool as sweat evaporates, cooling the skin. Humid air interrupts the cooling process and the core body temperature increases. Heat strokes are deadly.
Eliminating carbon emissions
Electric power is a major source of emissions. There are many ways to generate carbon-free energy, but until recently we did not have good ways to store energy. A wide range of energy storage solutions for small and large power systems are now available.
Energy storage is a major breakthrough similar to a savings account. You can make small deposits anytime you want, and your funds are available when you need them.
When a 600 mega-watt coal-fired power plant is running, the energy sent to the grid has to be used immediately somewhere on the grid.
Make it, store it, and use it where needed
To power one household, roof-top solar plus storage is the best solution. Batteries store excess solar energy during the day and power appliances at night. Adding solar panels allows homeowners to have back up power for rainy days. Utilities benefit when solar systems are tied to the grid by receiving high-quality kilowatt-hours during peak hours.
Have you had fried appliances for no apparent reason? Energy generated in power stations passes through large and complex networks with thousands of transformers, overhead lines, cables, and other equipment before it reaches your home causing electric defects. You can pay for a transient voltage suppressor or pay for repairs.
Carbon pollution and Covid-19
We have two global threats and the opportunity to create a better world. Case in point: Hawaii Electric announced this week plans for 460 megawatts of solar energy, and 3 gigawatt-hours of storage, to transition to 100% carbon-free energy by 2045. The new carbon-free facilities will provide resilient, low-cost energy to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, creating quality jobs for solar installers.
If you were the King …
What if the $3 trillion of CARES had gone to green jobs, distributed energy systems, and electric vehicles instead of bailing out billionaires and fossil fuels?
Keep dark money out of politics, make polluters pay for damages, create green jobs, and stop subsidies and bailouts to fossil fuels.
Let’s decrease the suffering from severe weather and improve our chances of survival. Every emission-free kilowatt-hour is leading us down the path to a safe future. We have many ways to meet our needs without compromising the future of our children.
Unless we act now, our children will inherit a polluted uninhabitable world, and over $6 trillion of CARES and HEROES stolen from the future.
Dr. Luis Contreras