Curtailing Use of Fossil Fuels to Reduce Greenhouse Gases
From standpoints of public relations, economic and legal basis, reduction of enterprise greenhouse gas emissions becomes a primary priority for a company's CEOs and board members.
In the second half of 2008, key environmental author James Hansen released a paper within the Open Atmospheric Science Journal which underlined, in startling form, the potential consequences should greenhouse gas production not be curtailed quickly. Hansen said that it was no longer acceptable to permit a slow reduction in the amount of gases released into the atmosphere and that spectacular changes should be implemented for the good of the planet.
He maintained that stabilizing atmospheric CO2 requires that net CO2 emissions approach zero, due to the long lifetime of CO2. The current carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, said to be 385 ppm, is "in a dangerous zone," according to Hansen and his co-authors. He emphasized the delay between the curtailment of CO2 concentrations and the net results in terms of climate change.
A very slow response and a considerable lead time between the cause and effect can be expected, as currently witnessed by the loss of Arctic sea ice and the West Antarctic ice sheet. Fossil fuels remain the primary focus of greenhouse gas production and must be addressed head-on.
"Humanity today, collectively, must face the uncomfortable fact that industrial civilization itself has become the principal driver of global climate. If we stay our present course, using fossil fuels to feed a growing appetite for energy intensive lifestyles, we will soon leave the climate of the Holocene, the world of prior human history. The eventual response to doubling pre-industrial atmospheric CO2 likely would be a nearly ice free planet, preceded by a period of chaotic change with continually changing shorelines. Humanity's task of moderating human caused global climate change is urgent."
Hansen also reasoned that the current CO2 level of 385 ppm is already almost past the tipping point. He insisted we must find an energy course beyond fossil fuels immediately and that we should set an objective of reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide through 350 ppm. This conclusion is at the outer edge of what is considered reasonable by others, however.
To reach his goals, Hansen and colleagues propose a highly controversial immediate phaseout of all coal-fired power stations, unless they are able to find a way to sequester their carbon dioxide emissions, procedures that are still largely untested. It is still feasible to avert catastrophic climate change by undertaking these actions and others, including reduction of non-CO2 greenhouse gas production.
Hanson compares the concept of phasing out our dependence on coal over the next 20 or 25 years as equivalent to previous efforts during times of world crisis, including the efforts that went into World War II. Colorfully, he maintains that the greatest danger is continued ignorance and denial, which could make tragic consequences unavoidable.
Greenhouse gas production must be severely curtailed and major changes to our way of life are called for. Those who are composing the post Kyoto protocol are advised to take notes.