California lays out plan to drastically cut fossil fuel use

[OneCrazyDiamond]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — New homes built in California starting in 2026 need to be powered by all-electric furnaces, stoves and other appliances if California is to meet its ambitious climate change goals over the next two decades, according to a state pollution-reduction plan released Tuesday.

The roadmap by the California Air Resources Board sets the state on a path to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2045, meaning as much carbon is removed from the air as is emitted. The state’s timeline is among the most ambitious in the nation; Hawaii has a similar goal and some other states have a 2050 deadline.

California could reach its goals through a drastic transition away from fossil fuels that power cars, trucks, planes, ships, homes, businesses and other sectors of the economy. The board staff recommends the state cut the use of oil and gas by 91% by 2045 and use technology to capture and store carbon emissions from remaining sources.

https://apnews.com/article/climate-technology-pollution-carbon-neutrality-d89c04fe08f09863eba5342b123c787d


California gets it.

[hunter]

1. It won't happen without some large scale energy storage projects or nuclear power.

Mind you, this would be in a state that's not even close to completing a high speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The existing hybrid gas/renewable electric grid California enjoys today is better than coal and can be extended to cover transportation and household furnaces, water heaters, and other appliances... but that's not going to save the world or even bring down California's per capita carbon footprint to the world average.

The only existing technology capable of displacing fossil fuels entirely is nuclear power.

Is California ready for that?

I think people are beginning to realize that if Diablo Canyon is shut down most of the load will be picked up by gas plants, especially as the severe drought in the West continues. The drought has already reduced the capacity of California's major water projects to stabilize the electric grid, pumping water uphill when renewable energy is plentiful, generating power by letting water down hill when it's not.

And maybe Californians might also realize that covering the desert with solar panels, and hillsides and oceans with wind turbines, is an environmentally destructive thing to do.

"We had to destroy the environment in order to save it!" is not an ethical perspective.