climate solutions Flashcards
mitigation
reduce amount of GHGs in the atmosphere
adaptation
physical and social ways of coping with the inevitable impacts of climate change
The need to reduce emissions
- RCPs show the need to reduce emissions by 50-80% by 2050
- Unrealistic
- Potential economic impacts that may disproportionately affect poorest economies
- Staged approach to reducing emissions, makes task more achievable, energy efficiency saving and move to renewables
Solar energy
- Photovoltaic production (PV) = photons as a form of energy, fastest growing renewable, improved efficiency, better suited to low latitudes
- Thermodynamic power plants = heat as a form of energy, concentrating sun’s energy using large mirrors to superheat water/oil/salt (molten salt used as energy store) to then drive turbines
Biomass and biofuels
- Biomass burnt directly e.g. wood pellets
- Biomass refined through extreme heat, enzymes or fermentation to produce biofuel
- Algae as a biofuel under development
- Problems with land availability, deforestation
Wind energy
- Scale and size of turbines increasing
- Offshore wind farms expanding
- Can generate a lot of energy
- Requires wind >11km/h
- Problems with risk for birds and bats
Wave and tidal energy
- Magnet moving up and down in water column
- Potential to generate large amounts of energy
- Highly predictable
- Cost of installation decreasing, reliability increasing
- Sustainable
Hydroenergy
- Damming rivers
- huge potential in energy generation
- restricted to large rivers with large changes in latitude
- Ecological impacts
- Loss of upstream habitats
- Rotting vegetation produces methane
- Prevents downstream flow of silt
Geothermal energy
- Reliable
- Geographically limited to tectonically active regions
Nuclear energy
Nuclear fission
- Clean, pollution/radiation is contained
- Very efficient
- Advancements in safety
- No way to get rid of radioactive waste
Nuclear fusion
- Technology still in development, decades away
- Could produce infinite amounts of clean energy
methods of carbon removal
- Afforestation, captures carbon and stabilises local weather patterns
- Seeding oceans with micronutrients stimulates phytoplankton growth, relatively small scale
- Carbon capture and storage
- Geoengineering (solar radiation management)
- methods to increase albedo (ethical and technological concerns)
Carbon capture and storage
- Capturing carbon as it is released from combustion of fossil fuels/ biomass and converting into mineral that can be stored in the ground or used in materials e.g. concrete
- Removal from the air, costly, only small amounts can be removed at once
Stratospheric aerosol injection
- Geoengineering method
- Particles of sulphur dioxide injected into atmosphere
- Could increase albedo leading to global cooling
- Cooling would not be uniform
- Could lead to reduced rainfall
Transport
- Accounts for 14% GHG emissions globally
- International agreements mean there is not tax on aviation fuel
- Investment in public transport infrastructure is needed to avoid use of short haul flights
Electric cars
- Not many purchased by UK consumers due to expense and lack of efficiency
- Government subsidies may incentivise sales
- Increase in sales would greatly increase energy demand, not enough infrastructure or green energy
Carbon taxes
- Per carbon content released, 35USD/ton proven to be effective in reducing emissions in countries reliant on heavy coal consumption such as China
- Price passed on to consumers drives down demand
- Easy to administer worldwide
- Can redistribute taxes into better causes
- Can also be applied to shipping, forestry, cement manufacturing industries etc.
carbon trading
- Kyoto protocol (1997) set a quota of emissions to polluters, enforced in 2005
- 1 carbon credit = reduction/avoidance/removal of 1 ton of carbon or equivalent GHG
- Creates a market for carbon, extra credits can be traded to jurisdictions that are over their quota
Carbon offsetting
- type of carbon trading
- Polluters can invest in units to offset their emissions
- RMU = removal unit, based on land use, land use change and forestry e.g. reforestation
- EMU = emissions reduction unit, allows a country to invest in an emissions reduction scheme/emissions removal project elsewhere
- CER = certified emission reduction, investment in a
project in the developing world to limit carbon emissions
Issues with carbon offsetting
Reforestation
- Forests have low albedo and trap heat, increasing temperatures locally
- Much of the land that is classed as available for afforestation worldwide already is vegetated
Social issues, carbon-colonialism
- Big carbon polluters allowed to continuously emit GHGs and buy up land in developing countries
- Sovereignty and greenwashing issues e.g. Dubai royal family bought up area size of UK in southern Africa to afforest
REDD+ scheme
Introduced in COP19 (2013)
= reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries
- Emphasis on protection of remaining forests
- Outlines importance of forests as sources of food, energy, shelter, biodiversity, reducing air pollution, spiritual sites, mental health and medicine, not just a carbon store
Social adaptations
Flooding
- UK invested heavily in forecast and warning systems since 2000 flooding
Hurricanes/cyclones
- Bangladesh = cyclone preparedness programme (CPP)
High temperatures
- France creates HHWWS (early warning system and protocols) following 2003 heatwave
examples of physical adaptations
- Better sea defences
- Better river flood defences
- More reservoirs (water security)
- Wetland restoration (to buffer coasts)
- Retrofitting adaptive technology e.g. air con, insulation, ventilation
Problems with physical adaptations
- Some areas are undefendable due to the scale of extreme climate events
- Size of flood events are increasing
- Rapid rainfall in short periods are overwhelming existing defences
- Planning and building major infrastructure is slow and very costly e.g. Thames Barrier
adaptation framework for buildings at risk of flooding
- Retreat model =restrict development completely close to coasts/rivers, move existing buildings back
- Accommodate model = building regulations to include mitigation for extreme events for risk management e.g. raised homes with floodable basements
- Protect model = flood defences/drainage mechanisms to reduce effect
adaptation framework for wetlands at risk of flooding
- Retreat model = allow wetland migration inland (managed realignment)
- Accommodate model = balance between reservation and development
- Protect model = extend foreshore/ reclaim land and plant with vegetation to reduce risk of inundation
adaptation framework for agricultural land at risk of flooding
- Retreat model = relocate production
- Accommodate model = switch to other forms of agriculture e.g. aquaculture
- Protect models = hard/soft structures to protect farmland e.g. dykes, pumping systems
