Stabilising CO2 at 450 ppm Requires Action Now: IEA
Urban Ecology News. 2007.11.7
To stabilise atmospheric carbon dioxide at 450 parts per million by 2050, CO2 from energy sources must peak by 2012, warns IEA.
In its annual report on global energy needs, the International Energy Agency says that:
To achieve the 450ppm target would mean that CO2 from energy sources would have to peak by 2012, which in turn would require a massive drive in energy efficiency and a switch to non-fossil fuels, the report said.
Emissions savings would have to come from improved efficiency in fossil-fuel use in industry, buildings and transport, switching to nuclear power and renewables, and the widespread deployment of CO2 capture and storage in power generation and industry.
Exceptionally quick and vigorous action by all countries and unprecedented technological advances, entailing, substantial costs, would be needed to make this case a reality.
Why 450 ppm?
The IPCC has said that in order to limit the average increase in global temperatures to 2.4 C (4.3 F) - the most optimistic of any scenario - the concentration of greenhouse gases would have to stabilise at 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.
On the basis of projected energy use and current efforts to mitigate emissions, projected greenhouse-gas pollution would rise by 1.8 percent annually by 2030, says the IEA report.
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Source: Global-warming gases set to rise by 57 percent by 2030. TerraDaily. 2007.11.7