1. Solution 2: Carbon Capture Storage
Levy a Tax on Carbon
Illustrating Field Notes from a Catastrophe   Chapter 7- Business as Usual   Tove Bracilano, Kristina English, Joe Munsterman University of Washington Bothell – BIS 243 – Autumn 2007
Solution 2: Carbon Capture Storage
By capturing CO2 at the source and injecting it into geological formations at high pressure, production from natural gas and oil wells could increase. Carbon Sequestration , or CCS, may only be a temporary solution because no one knows how much CO2 can be trapped underground for how long.
Fig. 5
This poster shows the main solutions regarding carbon emissions as discussed by Robert Socolow in chapter 7. Socolow is Professor of Engineering at Princeton and Co- director of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative. According to Socolow , “Business as Usual” assumes that emissions will continue to grow without regard to the climate He proposes four solutions to this problem .
Carbon costs would have to rise $100 a ton, adding 2 cents to each kilowatt- hour of coal and $15 a month to an American family’s electric bill to create enough incentive to go through with this plan. This plan is controversial however, because many people will be opposed to more or higher taxes.
Fig. 3
Solution 3: Limiting CO2
Limits on CO2 could be set globally and emitters could be allowed to buy and sell carbon “credits.” which are prices set on amounts of carbon emissions. This strategy has been used successfully in the US with sulfur dioxide in order to curb acid rain
Solution 1: Stabilization Wedges
This solution breaks the huge problem of carbon emissions into more manageable blocks, each wedge prevents one billion tons of carbon form being emitted by Unfortunately, there is no easy wedge and everyone is required to make an effort.
Fig. 6
An immediate reduction of carbon emissions is necessary because carbon that is released will stay in the atmosphere for over a century. Also, China is expected to overtake the U.S. in CO2 emissions in the next few decades by adding new coal –fired generating capacity at more than a gigawatt per month. #1
Fig. 1
Robert Socolow’s Stabilization wedges shows the problem of CO2 emissions being divided into several necessary solutions to be implemented over a fifty year span.
Fig. 4
Conclusion: The plan that Socolow lays out in chapter 7 would avoid CO2 emissions from exceeding concentrations of 500 parts per million by the middle of this century. Carbon emission growth would have to be held at almost zero for this to be achieved and a collective effort from every citizen would be needed. When reviewing the various solutions to the problem of CO2 emission, we believe the most feasible solution to be limiting CO2 on a global scale, we have the resources to see this plan through and the other solutions seem less stable or easily implemented.
Fig. 2
Transportation accounts for Transportation accounts for almost 2/3 of the oil consumed in the U.S., releasing almost 1 pound of CO2 per mile driven. The substitution of conventional cars with hybrid cars will reduce carbon emissions.
Wind Turbines are safe and emission free, however, to get one wedge out of wind power we would need one million two-megawatt turbines.