Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis

Summary

Detail

This book is the result of Solution Summits that Al Gore has organized in the past three years since the release of An Inconvenient Truth. The answers come from the fields of economics, science, technology, agriculture and many other areas of human study. The book brings together the best ideas and presents them in a way that is meant to inspire us to take action. All we need to know to solve the problems exist, all we need is the collective will says Gore.

The focus is on how we must collectively make the decision to solve the human problem of unrestrained emission of carbon while also resolving poverty and social equality issues. A transformation in our politics, economics and social organization is required and we can do it. The main difficulties are the scale and speed that we must make this happen. We may have as little as ten, twenty, thirty or forty years at the most.

Broad shared commitment and understanding has increased significantly over the past several years. Economic crisis has underscored the need to rethink our current models for organizing our communities. War in the middle east with rising tensions make clear that oil still poses a grave threat as a commodity worth killing for. Peak oil is upon us further exacerbating the economic problems and increasing the potential escalation of war for the control of oil reserves. The US spends half a trillion per year for oil, not including the military costs required to maintain their control over the resource. Additional subsidies and costs are hidden, including a massive one in the transportation system for cars. The US borrows money from China to buy oil from the middle east, and destroy the global environment.

China has seen the potential of this opportunity. China is poised to be the largest manufacturer, developer and user of solar and wind power in the world, supplying the rest of the world with their technology. The wars for oil, economic crisis, and climate crisis all stem from the same foundation, our reliance on non-renewable resources in particular carbon-based fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal. The most powerful organizations in the world, energy companies, don't want us to understand this. The most powerful and profitable organizations in the world must be brought down and given their power that will not be an easy battle.

Just imagine the near future when every building (your house, your office, your factory) generates enough electricity with solar, the electric vehicle (car, truck, bus, train, plan) in the driveway stores excess for use during times of high demand (or when the sun isn't shining or wind isn't blowing), and when we build with renewable and recycled materials. No need to fight for control of oil. Energy production is equitably distributed to everyone. Peak oil and demand for limited resource will not impact our economy. Carbon will no longer be dumped into the atmosphere. We have the technology, the economic models, and even the ability to drive the large scale rapid development effort. This is the choice. We must combine our collective will to create a better world that works on renewable resources. Given the obvious benefits and beauty of the vision most of us will fight for this change. A small number of very powerful organizations like oil companies (and their political allies) will continue to use the most insidious and damaging techniques they can to maintain their grip on power. This is a war for peace that we can not lose as long as we are clear about the truth.

To fail in making the transformation to a solar economy would be a criminal offence committed against our children. They would be justified to condemn us. Knowing what we know, we must create a just society that uses renewable resources. We find ourselves in the middle of this act. Everything we do today must be measured by the court of justice of our children's future. "The hour of choosing has arrived, Here are your tools", are the last lines of a poem by Al Gore.

So, the choice we must make is to stop emitting pollutants 1) Carbon dioxide 2) methane 3) black carbon 4) halocarbons 5) nitrous oxide 6) carbon monoxide in that order as well as VOCs according to this book.

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." Thomas Edison is quoted as saying. Solar is not a new idea. The beauty and revolution with renewable energy when compared to carbon based energy sources is that the fuel is free forever. With renewable energy the fuel is free, equally distributed and essentially unlimited. Like the computer revolution the use the large scale production and adoption of renewable generating technologies will see the technology evolve as fast as computers/internet along with declining costs.

Electricity generation from the sun, solar energy, can be accomplished by either using the heat to drive a generator or directly with solar photovoltaic cells. Solar energy can also be used very cost effectively directly to heat buildings. The advantage of electricity lies in the flexibility of use, transmission and to some extent storage. Large multi-megawatt generation in deserts are in production around the world now. This type of centralized solar requirements large scale upgrade of the electricity distribution grid, the wires and transformers required to get the electricity to where you need it.

The beauty of solar photovoltaic is that it can generate electricity where you need it, eliminating the high cost and complexity of a large distribution system (distribution of electricity from large central generating facilities also has the disadvantage that 10% of the energy is lost in the distribution process). Large central generating facilities may have the "cost" advantage today, but with the rapid large scale innovations and production increases in solar photovoltaic, along with the many other advantages of solar photovoltaic (PV) the future will likely favor PV. Increasing production of both solar technologies has seen 20 percent reductions in cost. Distributed generation with solar PV can be deployed anywhere including rooftops that don't require any additional land be use. With new storage (in our electric cars and building based storage system), smart meter (electricity meters that can measure consumption and generation, as well as communicate this information in real time), and mounting options, solar PV is emerging as the most natural (in so many ways this technology is similar to the way plants convert sunlight into energy). Solar is also made from silicon, the second most abundant substance in the crust of the earth with other trace minerals/materials that are available in sufficient quantities for all our needs in creating a world powered by solar. Making the right policy changes creates the conditions for the large scale, rapid changes required in all these areas. Sited as examples of this are Germany, Denmark and Spain with the feed-in tariff (FIT) policy framework. Renewable energy will be providing around 20% of the requirements in both Germany and Spain soon.

Another form of solar or sun energy is wind power. With wind turbines, driven by the renewable energy in wind currents, plenty of energy is just blowing in the wind. Currently wind is has been seen the greatest increase in production of electricity in the US. In fact it is the fastest growing source of energy period. Countries like Denmark, Germany and Spain are poised to generate more than 20% of their electricity with wind alone. Wind has developed quickly and is one of the most cost effective renewable energy options available now. Current production of electricity is land based. Offshore wind turbines present an even more productive environment and underwater electricity lines are relatively inexpensive. Proven offshore facilities exist off the coast of England and Denmark. Soon a 1 megawatt offshore wind farm will be in production off the coast in the UK. Electricity storage now makes both wind and solar quite viable on a large scale. Electric cars and their storage systems provide a perfect synergy. Storage may also be accomplished by integrating hydro power systems (pumping water up to store the electricity energy generated), smart grid capabilities, and many other options including the distribution of these facilities.

Geothermal provides an additional source of renewable energy that is virtually unlimited and essentially available equitably everywhere. An advantage of geothermal is that it is not intermittent. California has large scale steam turbines powered by geothermal sources. Iceland uses geothermal energy on a large scale. Ground source heat pumps also enable this form of energy to be captured almost anywhere. Heating and cooling bills can be reduced by 60% with geothermal heat pumps.

Based on a review of relative carbon dioxide footprints from electricity generation only wind, solar, and geothermal offer levels of below 38 grams per kilowatt-hour. Coal tops the list at 966 (with scrubbing technology) while gas sits at 433 grams per kilowatt-hour and nuclear at 1-288. Only wind, solar and geothermal are renewable. Coal, gas and nuclear require non-renewable fuel sources. Water demand for generating electricity also also makes nuclear, coal and gas an unsustainable choice, while solar and wind require none. Reliance on water has made nuclear, coal and gas a poor choice as global warming causes increasing problems with drought and heat waves that require increasing electricity when power output from these sources must be reduced because of lower water levels.

Deforestation is the second largest source of carbon emissions. Causes of this source are poverty, population growth, demand for commodities (that can be grown where the forests are), failure in our economic models to account for externalities, a lack of agreement on the cost of carbon that must be included and corruption of existing regulations. Brazil and Indonesia account for about 60 percent of the forest destruction. Subsidies for biofuel has been a major contributor to deforestation. China as stopped deforestation and now requires citizens to plant at least three trees a year.

Organic agriculture has the potential to reduce the impact of growing food as a major contributor to carbon emissions. Incentives for farms to put carbon into the soil are required. Techniques and knowledge of the methods must be shared, studied and improved. "Biochar may represent the single most important initiative for humanity's environmental future." - Tim Flannery. Biochar can be used to improve the soil and sequester carbon. Turning the "waste" from farming into biochar has great potential. Issues with this idea exist if allowed to grow like the biofuel industry has. Putting a price on carbon is the critical controlling mechanism. The difficulty is in measuring this as it relates to soil sequestration.

The International Energy Agency says that "One dollar invested in more efficient electrical equipment...avoids more than two dollars in investment in electricity supply." Efficiency offers the biggest and least expensive way to reduce carbon emissions. Electric cars alone will provide a twenty to thirty percent improvement over combustion engines. Cogeneration is a method of producing energy that captures both heat and power. Most North American electricity generating plants, including coal, gas and nuclear, use steam to drive turbines but expel the heat as waste. With combined heat and power (CHP) a much more efficient means of using more of the energy becomes possible while making these plants more profitable. Europe has been using this concept for many years reducing the waste of energy by as much as 40% (typically lost as heat in North America). Policy changes are required to encourage this sensible option. New efficient technology will reduce consumption in everything from LEDs for lighting, improved insulation, and reduced waste through automatic controls. Efficiency measures are cost effective but they will require financial incentives or financing support in order to deal with the large up-front costs. Both visionary leadership and individual action are required to maximize efficiency which is the most cost effective means of reducing carbon emissions.

Change in behavior and thinking can be accomplished. Current consumer oriented drivers have failed. Linking the global climate issue to more immediate concerns like economic uncertainty, jobs and social changes that people are looking for to improve their lives are required. We must "be the change" as Ghandi said. Feedback and indicators are required that help us see the scale of the problem as well as measure things as they improve. With each improvement we must celebrate.

Despite the economic crisis progress in the fight against global warming has continued. Carbon emissions are an invisible externalities not counted in most of our economic systems. Putting a price on carbon helps address this deficiency in our economic model. We must move towards a new economic system that supports the improvement of society, all equally, within a model that does not depend upon continuous growth. Like nature the economic system we design must support life for all equally. We all know that and yet it will take a fight against powerful organizations that stand to lose their power, control and profits (ie. the oil companies and their related industries). By switching to renewables the horrific power of oil to send economies into a tail spin will become history. Renewables require long term thinking that must become built into our economic policies.

Three main options exist for including the cost of carbon emissions. One is a tax on carbon dioxide. The second is a cap and trade system that limits emissions and uses market mechanisms to allocate these limits. Third, a direct regulation that limits emissions is possible. Not mentioned in the book is the incentive of feed-in tariffs that encourage investment in renewable energy production.

Not too long from now our children will ask, what did you do Dad, what did you do Mom? We can all choose how we will be able to respond by acting right now to do as much as we can. Societies way of thinking is changing. We know we must pay one way or another for the carbon that we put into the atmosphere. We can turn our economic policies around to support people and nature rather than a few large oil companies. This idea is called feed-in tariffs that will put economics into the service of creating a sustainable future using market mechanisms. Not stated in this book this clearly, but obviously the right idea, is that people everywhere are demanding that we redefine the organization of our societies so they support all equally through policies that fully account for people and nature.

Al Gore continues dig deeper into the climate crisis. This wonderful book provides many of the details we all need to understand in order to make the transformations required. This is the much needed antidote to the sinking feeling we all felt at the end of his film An Inconvenient Truth. Let us hope this book results in an equally powerful but this time inspiring, visionary romp through the wonderful future of renewable energy that can be ours. Read this book and weep in happiness, that there is a choice, and we've seen the future.

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