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Breakthrough Responds: Why Carbon Pricing Won't Cut It
In the real world, the American polity and the American market are not ready for a tough carbon price. The best way to respond to the climate challenge right now is to massively expand the role of the federal government in researching, developing, and deploying clean technology.
This is a response to Max Epstein's guest post, "In Defense of Carbon Pricing: Why Clean Energy RD&D Isn't Enough." Our response is written by Breakthrough Generation fellow Zach Arnold. Before anything else, I want to thank Max for his thoughtful post. His arguments have been a big help in clarifying our own thinking. In my response, I'm going to try to define the problem we're trying to solve, and clarify the differences I see between a carbon price driven regime (as Max advocates) and an investment-led regime (as we're more fond of at Breakthrough). I'm then going to explore the political feasibility of a carbon price, and what a politically sustainable carbon price can and can't do to address climate change. In doing so, I hope to show that, for now, we can't rely on carbon pricing to drive the shift to a clean energy economy. Continue reading "Breakthrough Responds: Why Carbon Pricing Won't Cut It" » Clear-Eyed About Nuclear
If we're serious about solving climate change, we have to be clear-eyed about what it will take. To wean ourselves off fossil fuels, we have to revisit nuclear.
Written by Helen Aki, Breakthrough Generation Fellow. There are a lot of good justifications for fossil fuel independence. It will divorce us from politically unstable oil suppliers, it will liberate us from high energy costs, it will lead us into the glorious possibility of the twenty-first century. But let's be honest with ourselves: if we're pursuing fossil fuel independence because we want to stop carbon dioxide emissions and avert catastrophic climate change (and we are), we will need more than solar panels, wind turbines, and cars that go "whizz!". We have in reserve a proven technology that is ready for mass deployment. It currently supplies 372GW of energy world wide, and if scaled up three to sixfold, it could account for 2/7ths of greenhouse gas emission stabilization. It is close enough to cost-competitive with coal-fired electricity that a modest carbon tax would make it cheaper than coal. But it is politically unpopular and characterized as dirty, evil, and dangerous. If we want to "solve the climate crisis," or at least make significant steps towards transitioning towards a carbon-neutral, clean energy economy, we need to face one inconvenient truth: We have to go nuclear. While We're Out There...or: A Call For Pragmatic Political Solutions
Deep sea wind farms might not have an immediate effect on gas prices, but drilling for oil out there won't either. And, considering the fact that both off shore drilling and deep sea wind have about the same 10-year frame for return on investment of resources, it only seems prudent to explore every "American Solution" we have at our disposal.
By Adam Zemel, Breakthrough Generation Fellow Deep sea wind turbines have a lot to offer: This (older) article from MIT discusses building wind farms 100 miles off shore, which shows another strength for deep sea wind: 100 miles away from the shore, farther than the human eye can see, is not anyone's backyard. There is no threat from NIMBY activists, or NIMFrontY activists, or NIMYPeriod activists. A patch of water 100 miles away from land is not in anyone's yard at all! Continue reading "While We're Out There...or: A Call For Pragmatic Political Solutions" » Buddhism, Nihilism, and Deep Ecology
Nature is no wiser than technology, and claiming adherence to nature's laws is an attempt to bypass the messy business of ethics and values.
Carbon-sucking trees. Mirrors in space. Biochar. Some of the proposed solutions to climate change seem better suited to the annals of science fiction. Geo-engineering -- along with nanotechnology and bioengineering -- belongs to a class of scientific innovation that many fear will threaten the integrity of life as we know it. Humans have been innovating new technologies since the first forward-thinking caveman used a rock to crack a nut from its shell, but new technologies still sometimes manage to weird us out. Certain technologies -- fertilizing the oceans with urea, for example -- just don't seem natural. Environmentalists of the deep ecology school fear that a tech-heavy approach to climate change glosses over the real issues (human greed and overconsumption), and could drive us toward a future more Blade Runner than ecotopia. Synthetic Air Capture Technology: How Artificial Trees Can Do More than Decorate your Living Room
High tech solutions still early in the developmental phase often have the potential to play a significant role in transforming our national energy system. With continued support for RD&D, Carbon Capture and Storage - including synthetic air capture - will likely become a new, viable American energy technology.
By Joanna Calabrese, Breakthrough Generation Fellow Why can't we just suck all of the C02 out of the atmosphere and get it over with? This is a question that people- from elementary school children to top energy researchers-have asked in the pursuit of new climate-solving technologies. Researchers at Columbia University responded with a resounding YES! last year in their unveiling of the world's first successful demonstration of air capture technology. A new "air extractor" technology presented by Klaus Lackner, a professor of Geophysics at Columbia's Earth Institute, offers something no other carbon capture technology on the drawing board has. From Edison and Tesla to America's Supergrid
Direct current technologies, once defeated by Nikola Tesla's alternating current system, hold great potential in creating a supergrid for America's renewable electricity sources. A $70 billion project by the EU will channel solar power from the Sahara to Europe, America should take note.
By Helen Aki, Breakthrough Generation Fellow Once upon a time in New York, Thomas Edison created an electrical system run on direct current. This early form of electricity captured the interest of the Northeast, but was more of a scientific curiosity than a utility: Edison's direct current lines were the only known way to make a light bulb glow, but they provided barely enough energy to illuminate a room. Enter Nikola Tesla, with a better idea...Continue reading "From Edison and Tesla to America's Supergrid" » Quote of the Day
"Abu Ghraib became a bizarro world where detainees were kept on dog leashes, subjected to ""invasion of space by female" and bombarded with intolerable sounds, including "meows from cat-food commercials, Yoko Ono singing and Eminem rapping about America." From the...
"Abu Ghraib became a bizarro world where detainees were kept on dog leashes, subjected to ""invasion of space by female" and bombarded with intolerable sounds, including "meows from cat-food commercials, Yoko Ono singing and Eminem rapping about America." From the Times review of Jane Mayer's new book on American torture. The Promise of Solar Photovoltaic Thin-Films: Not Your Uncle's Solar Panel
Promising current and next generation solar photovoltaic (PV) thin-film technologies are an important part of the U.S. response to the energy challenge. PV generated electricity will become increasingly cost-competitive with smart deployment policies and quantities manufactured.
By Chris Knight, Breakthrough Generation Fellow Mention solar photovoltaics (PV) to a group of energy activists or policy wonks, and you'll elicit several different responses. "It's soooo expensive," will say one person. "Why don't we use more of it?" will be the cry of another. And if you have anyone from California in your group, you'll surely hear "Dude, its hella cool!" Lost among these responses is an understanding of the future potential of the cheapest PV technologies: thin-films. Continue reading "The Promise of Solar Photovoltaic Thin-Films: Not Your Uncle's Solar Panel" » SPECIAL ISSUE: New American Energy Sources
This week, Breakthrough Blog is putting the spotlight on potential new American energy sources.
Breakthrough Blog's week-long Special Issue puts the spotlight on potential new American energy sources. By plugging in to new, clean energy sources we can re-charge our economy, secure our energy future and win true energy freedom. The time is now for a sustained national effort to make clean energy sources a reality. Transforming our nation's entire energy economy will require a level of expertise, innovation, and generational effort unlike any before, and it will take a lifetime to achieve. The Breakthrough Generation is ready for this challenge. Links to posts in the series are below the fold... Continue reading "SPECIAL ISSUE: New American Energy Sources" » Biochar: Charcoal May Hold the Key to A Cleaner World
This developing technology could solve our global warming woes as it tucks away the world's carbon away for thousands of years. The biggest barriers to exploring and scaling up this solution are economic. Let's break through them and fully utilize this powerful earth and climate scrubber.
By Alisha Fowler, Breakthrough Generation Fellow This month's issue of Plenty Magazine put a spotlight on biochar, a type of charcoal produced from plant matter that could revolutionize our farmland and curb global warming emissions on a global scale. Continue reading "Biochar: Charcoal May Hold the Key to A Cleaner World" » | |
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