Cornerstones of 25x'25 New Energy Future Also Critical to Stemming Climate Change
Renewable energy and energy efficiency are cornerstones of the 25x’25 Vision for a new energy future that will see enhanced national security, a healthier economy and a cleaner environment. Taken to the global level, those same cornerstones can bring about huge reductions in climate change emissions, a recent analysis shows. Meeting the Climate Challenge: Core Elements of an Effective Response to Climate Change, by the Center for American Progress and the U.N. Foundation, says achievable gains in energy efficiency, renewable energy, forest conservation, and sustainable land use worldwide could achieve up to 75 percent of needed global emissions reductions in 2020, at a net savings of $14 billion.
The analysis goes on to say that with additional investments in climate adaptation, using renewable resources for energy, making energy use more efficient, curbing deforestation and using sustainable land use practices would deliver a wide range of economic, security, and environmental benefits in developed and developing countries. Greater international support for these core elements would make an immediate contribution to solving the climate problem and help to achieve a new international climate agreement.
As long advocated by 25x’25, there are a wide range of low- and no-carbon energy sources and technologies, including wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydro, that offer compelling alternatives to fossil fuels in the long run, as they rely on inexhaustible domestic resources. The 25x’25 Vision is mirrored in the analysis’ findings that renewable energy projects are environmentally friendly if appropriately sited and designed; and that their production can create domestic economic development and jobs in all countries. While renewable energy may be more expensive in some areas in the short term when compared with competing, often subsidized, fossil alternatives, these prices are falling and, in some cases, such as wind and solar applications off the grid, are competitive. And G-20 leaders recently pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, making renewable energy technologies more economically attractive.
Energy efficiency, which is the option of first choice in a 25x’25 new energy future, is also the most immediate and cost-effective opportunity to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The CAP/UN Foundation analysis cites a recent assessment by Project Catalyst, which concluded that improving energy efficiency could provide roughly one-third of available, cost-effective emissions reductions in 2020. However, energy efficiency faces an array of market barriers that currently inhibit full deployment, and raising energy prices alone, whether through a reduction in fossil fuel subsidies, mandating the purchase emissions permits by energy producers, or imposing carbon taxes, won’t be enough to overcome these obstacles. Policies adopted by many countries, such as building codes, appliance standards and regulatory incentives for utilities to finance end-use efficiency improvements, along with other policies recommended by the International Energy Agency, could rapidly accelerate progress on energy efficiency if applied throughout the developed and emerging market economies.
The analysis comes as Congress debates regulatory legislation aimed at stemming climate change and ahead of critical negotiations set for December in Copenhagen where global leaders hope to reach a new agreement on climate change. The CAP/UN Foundation analysis provides world leaders with the evidence that the same renewable energy and energy efficiency policies critical to a 25x’25 future are also crucial to a global climate agreement.
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