Publication - 5 May, 2008
The climate crisis requires urgent action. To avoid the worst effects, global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2015 and then start falling by at least 50% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.
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Executive summary: The energy sector is responsible for some two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions, including upwards of 60% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Coal is the largest single source of CO2 emissions and the most carbon intensive of all fossil fuels. Yet world governments are planning to build hundreds of coal power plants in the next decade. If such plans go ahead it will be impossible for governments toreduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to seriously tackle climate change.Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been proposed as way to prevent carbon dioxide released from power stations from contributing to climate change by dumping it underground. At present, there are no large-scale coal-fired power plants in the world capturing carbon, let alone any that are integrated with storage operations. CCS simply can’t deliver in time.
Num. pages: 4