Halving global CO2 by 2050: technologies and costs

  • Shah N
  • Vallejo L
  • Cockerill T
  • et al.
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Abstract

Imperial College London, London, United KingdomGrantham Institute for Climate ChangeEnergy Futures Lab; There is still a chance to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions that would keep the world broadly on track to limit global warming to around 2 degrees Celsius (2°C) above pre-industrial levels. This study outlines how it could be done, by focusing on the technologies which in combination could cut energy and industrial process CO2 emissions to a 2050 level consistent with a 2°C temperature rise. The approach considers only technologies which either currently exist at commercial scale, or which have been demonstrated at sub-commercial scale but which are still awaiting full-scale deployment. The approach divides the world into ten geographical regions, and for each region projects how economic output and population could grow to 2050. It then considers how this growth will affect the future demand for energy services across each region in the buildings, transport and industrial sectors. By further considering how primary energy is converted into final energy which can be used in these sectors, through electricity generation and other energy transformation processes, a complete, high-level picture of each region’s energy system is produced. The study specifies the technologies that would be employed in this energy system in a reference scenario (the “low mitigation scenario”, LMS) in which no concerted action on climate change is undertaken, and in a range of low-carbon scenarios (LCS) in which emissions reductions would be broadly in line with a 2°C global warming target. In this way the study sets out the major technologies needed for this energy system transformation, with associated costs.

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APA

Shah, N., Vallejo, L., Cockerill, T., Gambhir, A., Heyes, A., Hills, T., … Woods, J. (2013). Halving global CO2 by 2050: technologies and costs. London: Imperial College London. Retrieved from http://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/publications/collaborative-publications/halving-global-co2-by-2050-technologies-and-costs.php

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