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