Huffington Magazine Issue 66 | Page 61

AP PHOTO/MARTIN MEISSNER THE CARBON QUANDARY bined with the rapid deployment of solar and wind power, are at the heart of much current climate activism. But even assuming that such efficiency gains could be obtained in a reasonable timeframe (and setting aside a host of logistical and financial hurdles), energy experts say this would still require a substantial breakthrough in energy storage technology, given that these sources only deliver electricity when the wind blows or when the sun shines. A vast expansion of nuclear power could substantially reduce global CO₂ emissions. But these plants can require prohibitively expensive HUFFINGTON 09.15.13 outlays of their own — much as $10 billion in some cases — and the problem of nuclear waste, which at the moment has no long-term solution, remains. Cleaning up the transportation sector — with electric cars, for example — would make a significant dent in the problem by reducing tailpipe emissions of CO₂. But then, the added demand for electricity has to come from somewhere. And of course, such strategies will only be as successful as they are widely replicated by the entire community of nations — both rich ones and those now climbing steadily out of poverty. So far, that sort of global agreement on reducing carbon emissions has proved elusive. )Q