Modernizing and Energy Efficiency Could Drastically Reduce CO2 Emissions

[Jefferson23]

It is absolutely possible to reduce CO2 emissions by making energy plants more effiient in places like China, US and Europe says Professor Giovanni Baiocchi of University of Maryland

Bio

Dr. Giovanni Baiocchi is an applied environmental economist. Giovanni's main research looks at the global and local impact of economic activity, including trade, urbanization, and lifestyles. He has published a wide range of interdisciplinary research in international multidisciplinary journals such as Environmental Science & Technology, Ecological Economics, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Nature Climate Change, and Computational Economics. Giovanni is a lead author for the IPCC 5th Assessment for Working Group III, focusing on the drivers, trends, and mitigation of climate change. He was also selected as a qualified independent expert for environmental themes by the European Commission.

Transcript: snip* PERIES: So, before we left the first segment, we were having a conversation about the largest emitters around the world, China and the United States and some of the European countries, all of whom have--from what I understand, China has made a commitment to reduce its emissions by 45 percent by 2030; we have the United States talking about reducing its emissions by 35 percent; and we have the European Union, who's also said that they would reduce its CO2 emissions by 35 percent by 2030.

Now, the question on my mind is: is this actually possible, given the current economic organization and structure?

BAIOCCHI: Yes, that's definitely an important question. And I would say that for some countries, like China, because they start from having power plants that are very inefficient--basically, coal-based, some old technology--for them, this kind of commitment, it's possible, it's more possible than for other countries. So by adopting new technology, cleaner technology, they can make major efficiency savings. Also, emphasis on renewables and wind and solar energy--I know that they are investing a lot into these technology. So I would say that it is possible for some countries. Other countries that already have efficient technologies, some European countries, for example, for them it will be much harder to meet this kind of commitments.

PERIES: So in terms of corporations cooperating with this initiative, those who are in the renewable innovative sector of the economy looking at energy sources would actually jump on this opportunity, because that means that they're able to sell more efficient energy infrastructure in order to reduce emissions. Why would they be against it, as there is a huge lobby in the United States trying to curtail policy towards a better environment?

BAIOCCHI: The story is the usual one. There are pre-existing interests, and it's very hard to move things in the right direction. There's a lot of investment, what we call lock-ins into fossil fuel, technology-based. And this makes us dependent on that industry. The industry depends on us continuing our behavior, and changes are difficult.

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