Month: November 2019

Ray, P. (2019): Renewable energy and sustainability

Ray, P. (2019): Renewable energy and sustainability. In Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy 21 (8), pp. 1517–1533. DOI: 10.1007/s10098-019-01739-4.

“Rough analysis presented here based on data that are commonly accepted, and mass and energy conservation principle with second law, seem to indicate that irrespective of correlation between carbon dioxide build-up and global warming, renewable energy, specifically direct solar energy will have to be adopted.”

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The Economist: Predicting the climatic future is riddled with uncertainty

“The world’s climate scientists are charged with a difficult task: to create a crystal ball with which to skry a future that promises to be hotter than today. But exactly how much hotter depends on innumerable factors, both natural and human. Creating the crystal ball is thus a two-stage process. First, you have to build a simulacrum of how Earth’s climate works. Then, you try to perturb this simulacrum with plausible future human actions, to see what picture appears.”

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Gattuso, J.-P.; et al. (2019): Opportunities for increasing ocean action in climate strategies

Gattuso, J.-P.; et al. (2019): Opportunities for increasing ocean action in climate strategies. IDDRI, Policy Brief N°02/19.

“In this Policy Brief we assess 18 ocean-based measures to support climate policies and the revision of NDCs in the areas of mitigation and adaptation. Ocean-related measures should not be considered as a substitute for climate mitigation on land, which must also be strongly pursued for the benefit of the atmosphere as well as the ocean.”

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Rohr, T. (2019): Southern Ocean Iron Fertilization: An Argument Against Commercialization but for Continued Research Amidst Lingering Uncertainty

Rohr, Tyler (2019): “Southern Ocean Iron Fertilization: An Argument Against Commercialization but for Continued Research Amidst Lingering Uncertainty”.[nbsp]Journal of Science Policy [&] Governance, Vol. 15, October 2019.

“I make that case that absent the appropriate oversight OIF activity on voluntary offset markets motivated by a reasonable market opportunity, the relative ease of deployment, and the perception of an ethical imperative, can, and will continue to, emerge. In turn, I argue that continued research is necessary to help constrain the public perception that voluntary markets depend on by further clarifying the risks, elaborating the challenges, and delegitimizing the promise of an iron bullet.”

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UCalgary News: Whats wrong with geoengineering climate change?

“Researchers have been coming up with some pretty interesting ideas on how to slow down climate change. From sucking carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases out of the air, to shooting particles in the stratosphere to reduce the amount of the sun’s heat from reaching Earth. But have you ever stopped to think about the potentially negative effects these ideas may have in our quest to abate climate change?”

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Honegger, M.; et al. (2019): Net-zero emissions: The role of Carbon Dioxide Removal in the Paris Agreement. Policy Briefing Report

Honegger, M.; Michaelowa, A.; Poralla, M. (2019): Net-zero emissions: The role of Carbon Dioxide Removal in the Paris Agreement. Policy Briefing Report. Perspectives Climate Research, Freiburg.

“While seemingly far-off, the need to achieve a balance of emissions and removals has sharpened focus on the necessity for drastic emissions reductions as well as advancing carbon dioxide removals. Policy planning processes increasingly ought to anticipate a path toward reaching net-zero emissions and the Perspectives team is working on several fronts to support such processes with policy proposals and research. This briefing report seeks to outline the broad strokes of issues surrounding carbon dioxide removal (or negative emissions) for negotiators and national decision makers tasked with preparing LEDS, revising NDCs or advancing related policies as well as for observers and potentially concerned industries.”

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