Abstract
The climate change community has called for an 80 % reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions below 1990 emission levels, preferably by 2050 to avoid the worst consequences of climate change in the 21st century. In this chapter we analyze the required reductions in each sector of U.S. society to obtain an overall 80 % reduction below 1990 levels. This assessment suggests that the GHG emissions from generating electricity should be reduced to at least 58 % below 1990 electricity emission levels, or a reduction from 1866 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent in 1990 to less than 784 million tonnes of GHG emissions by 2050.
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Notes
- 1.
The latest year available from the EPA inventory was 2012.
- 2.
Although Ballard signed a contract in November 2015 with a Chinese company to supply 200-kW fuel cell modules to power trams in China, and Hydrogenics signed a contract with Alstom Transport to produce fuel cells for trains in Europe, which would significantly reduce the emissions from rail traffic that now depends on high carbon diesel fuel.
- 3.
It may also be less costly to make reductions in other sectors than in the industrial or electricity sectors.
- 4.
We use the estimate from the EIA that 53 % of known coal reserves are accessible.
References
Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990–2012, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-14-003, 15 Apr 2014. Available at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2014-Main-Text.pdf
Thomas (CE) (2015) Sustainable transportation options for the 21st century and beyond: a comprehensive comparison of alternatives to the internal combustion engine. Springer International Publishing. ISBN# 978-3-319-16832-9
“Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990–2012”, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-14-003, 15 Apr 2014. Available at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2014-Main-Text.pdf
Ballard signs $3 M contract for development of fuel cell module to power trams in China, 1 Nov 2015. Available at http://www.ballard.com/about-ballard/newsroom/news-releases/news11011501.aspx
Hydrogenics and Alstom transport sign agreement to develop and commercialize hydrogen-powered commuter trains in Europe, 27 May 2015. Available at http://www.hydrogenics.com/about-the-company/news-updates/2015/05/27/hydrogenics-and-alstom-transport-sign-agreement-to-develop-and-commercialize-hydrogen-powered-commuter-trains-in-europe
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Thomas, C.E.(. (2017). Net Greenhouse Gas Reductions Required by Sector. In: Stopping Climate Change: the Case for Hydrogen and Coal. Lecture Notes in Energy, vol 35. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31655-0_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31655-0_3
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