[Vision2020] No Local Transportation Problem? Think Globally, Act Locally!

[Ted Moffett]

All:

Using a very rough CO2 impact calculator reveals that one vehicle on the
Palouse annually driving the average mileage for a US driver with an average
MPG vehicle will place into the atmosphere the approximate amount of CO2
equal to burning half a football field sized area of the Amazon Rain
forest...about 5 tons.

http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/carboncalculator.cfm

Now, Joe Campell, do we have a local transportation problem?  Or are we
living in a world where our actions locally do not impact the world at
large?  We can put a big dome over the Palouse and live in paradise!
-----------------------

Info on editorial published in the August 3, 2006 Science magazine:

http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/news.asp?id=4975

Latest press releases
International 'Apollo' project needed to stimulate new energy technologies
says Lord Rees

*4 Aug 2006 *

[image: *]The challenge of developing new technologies to meet global energy
demand while tackling climate change needs an initiative similar to the
Apollo' or Manhattan' projects on an international scale Martin Rees,
President of the Royal Society, writes in an editorial published in the
journal Science' today (Thursday, 3 August 2006).

Lord Rees cites the projects, which put the first man on the moon and led to
the development of the first atomic bomb, to highlight the need for world
leaders to instigate an urgent global initiative to stimulate the
development of new energy technologies.

He says that the joint G8 communiqué, issued at the end of last month's St
Petersburg summit, reflects a worrisome lack of determination by world
leaders in this area because it neglects to emphasize the importance of
public-sector R&D funding for technologies that are too far from market.  He
asks, "Will G8 leaders have the vision to announce such an initiative at
next year's summit?"

Lord Rees also says that, "...governments of industrial countries are not
facing up to the huge energy challenges that lie ahead. That is disquieting
because the IEA (International Energy Agency) is predicting that by 2030,
based on current national policies, 80% of the world's primary energy demand
will be met by fossil fuels. Meanwhile, nuclear, hydro, biomass, and waste
will provide 17%, and other renewables, such as geothermal, solar, and wind
energy will only account for less than 2%.

"As a result, the IEA projects that annual energy-related emissions of
carbon dioxide will be 52% higher in 2030 than in 2003. Unless there is a
radical change, the world will continue to become more reliant on fossil
fuels beyond 2030. Without unfeasibly dramatic breakthroughs in carbon
sequestration and energy efficiency, this will lead to proportionate
increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

He writes: "One benchmark is set by nuclear fusion, where current publicly
funded research runs at around $1.5 billion a year&Proportionate support of
all other options surely would be a prudent investment in a world where the
cost of worldwide energy consumption is measured in trillions of dollars.
These R&D expenditures could be funded through a carbon tax or similar
economic instruments, levied initially on the countries with the largest
carbon emissions."

He highlights research that shows public-sector Research and Development
(R&D) investment in energy in most industrialised countries has fallen
sharply in real terms. In the 11 countries which are members of the
International Energy Agency (IEA), and which account for most of the world's
energy, investments in major energy R&D program areas dropped by 53% between
1990 and 2003. Fossil Fuels and nuclear power accounted for more than 90% of
the aggregate decline, but there was also an overall drop of 5% for R&D on
renewable technologies.
He writes that a global initiative on new energy technologies would have the
further public benefit of stimulating education and enrolments in science
and technology.
-----------

Vision 2020 Post: Ted Moffett
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20060804/a7f2a603/attachment.htm