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Global Carbon, Natural Gas, and Some of the Alternatives
Author(s) -
Smead Richard G.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
climate and energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2692-3823
pISSN - 2692-3831
DOI - 10.1002/gas.22200
Subject(s) - natural resource economics , victory , greenhouse gas , natural gas , climate change , global warming , climate change mitigation , renewable energy , coal , environmental science , economics , political science , engineering , waste management , politics , ecology , electrical engineering , law , biology
In the response to the pretty horrendous evolution of climate change, in general every conversation begins with anthropogenic causes for the change. Are they the cause? And what can be done to mitigate the impacts? Accepting that carbon emissions, in the form of both carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane, are major incremental culprits, and that the role of the United States in addressing carbon emissions is important, it is worthwhile to examine at least one global case of what to expect in the interaction of US policy and the global problem, and what we can do about it. Multiple states and at least one national party are targeting either zero or very low—e.g., 80 percent reduced—levels of CO 2 emissions by 2050, 30 years from now. In the last 30 years, the United States has experienced large increases in emissions up until 2005, when efforts to reduce those emissions through support for renewable sources and, more importantly, the simple economic victory that natural gas achieved over coal for power generation brought the United States back to 1990 levels—at least for power generation.