They must be hoping to bludgeon people into accepting the ‘climate neutral’ nonsense if they keep spouting it for long enough. Any government that says “you can’t fly anywhere on holiday any more” isn’t going to last long.
The UK cannot reach net zero before 2050 unless people stop flying and eating red meat, a report says.
But it warns that the British public do not look ready to take such steps and substantially change their lifestyle, says BBC News.
The report challenges the views of campaign group Extinction Rebellion.
It believes the UK target of climate neutrality by 2050 will result in harm to the climate.
The claim comes from the government-funded research group Energy Systems Catapult, whose computer models are used by the Committee on Climate Change, which advises government.
Its report says: “A number of groups have called for net zero to be accelerated to 2025, 2030 or 2040.
“Achieving net zero significantly earlier than 2050 in our modelling exceeds even our most speculative measures, with rates of change for power, heat and road transport that push against the bounds of plausibility.”
Glimmer of good news
But the authors offer some optimism too. They calculate that the UK can cut emissions fast enough to be climate neutral by 2050 – but only if ministers act much more quickly.
They say the government urgently needs to invest in three key technologies: carbon capture and storage with bioenergy crops; hydrogen for a wide variety of uses; and advanced nuclear power.
The report modelled options for society to 2050. It concluded that if decisions are made early, the cost of climate neutrality can be held down to 1-2% of national wealth – GDP.
Scenarios rely on some technologies still in their infancy, which will be controversial. For instance, it draws heavily on burning energy crops, capturing the carbon emissions and burying them underground.
It says hydrogen use will need to grow to supply industry, heat and heavy transport.
Electricity generation will need to double with heavy reliance on solar power and offshore wind.
Full article here.
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
March 10, 2020 at 04:12AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 