World Wildlife Fund - Annual Report 2007 - (Page 7)

Climate Solutions: Creating a global low-emissions energy economy Against the alarming realities of climate change, experts from across the WWF Network have come together to offer some hopeful possibilities. Our research concludes that a concerted shift to already-available sustainable energy resources and technologies can meet the global energy demand projected by 2050, while avoiding dangerous climatic change (defined as more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels). But here’s the catch: The challenge can be met only if current governments make decisions in the next five years that lead to a global low-emissions energy economy. These findings are set forth in Climate Solutions: WWF’s Vision for 2050, a report that identifies six solutions to meeting energy demand without damaging the climate. Breaking the Link Between Energy Services and Primary Energy Production. Energy efficiency (getting more energy services per unit of energy used) is a priority. Our climate solutions model shows that by 2020-2025 energy efficiencies could make it possible to meet increasing demand for energy services within a stable net demand for primary energy production, reducing projected demand by 39 percent annually. 1. 2. Stopping Forest Loss. Stopping and reversing the loss and degradation of forests is a crucial element of any positive climateenergy scenario. The probability of success of the climate solutions proposed here drops progressively from greater than 90 percent down to 35 percent in the absence of effective action to curb land-use emissions. 3. Concurrent Growth of Low-Emissions Technologies. The rapid and parallel pursuit of the full range of technologies – wind, hydroelectric, solar photo voltaic, solar thermal, geothermal and bio-energy – is crucial, although these also require a set of environmental and social constraints to ensure their sustainability. By 2050, these technologies could meet 70 percent of the remaining demand after efficiencies have been applied. 4. Developing Flexible Fuels, Energy Storage and New Infrastructure. Deep cuts in fossil-fuel use cannot be achieved without large volumes of energy from intermittent sources, like wind and solar, being stored and transformed into transportable fuels and into fuels that meet the thermal needs of industry. New fuels, such as hydrogen, that meet these requirements will call for major new infrastructure for their production and distribution. 5. Displacing High-Carbon Coal with LowCarbon Gas. Natural gas as a “bridging fuel” offers an important opportunity to avoid the long-term lock-in of new coal power stations, providing significant carbon savings in the near term, while other energy sources and technologies are developed. 6. Carbon Capture and Storage. To stay within the carbon emissions budget, it is essential that fossil-fuel plants are equipped with carbon capture and storage technology as soon as possible. This has immediate implications for the location of new plants, since transport of carbon dioxide to distant storage sites would be costly. worldwildlife.org 7 http://worldwildlife.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Wildlife Fund - Annual Report 2007

WWF - Annual Report 2007 Contents The Landscapes of People's Lives The President’s Report Africa, Land of the Soul Building Prosperity from Africa’s Natural Wealth A Namibian Odyssey Natural Capital: Putting a Price on Nature Investing in Fish and Fishermen Wildlife in the Balance Africans on the Move WWF Results Across the Globe A Different Kind of Fieldwork A River Dammed Pooling Efforts in the World’s Aquarium More Than Just the Daily Catch All Along the Equator A Partnership for Freshwater Funding and Financial Overview Statement of Activities Ways to Give Staff National Council Board of Directors

World Wildlife Fund - Annual Report 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.