Big Problem; Many Solutions

Two interesting summaries in today's EEI newsletter:

$400 Per Ton Carbon Tax Proposed to Maintain GHG Emissions Levels
Stanford professor Stephen Schneider told a House Ways and Means Committee hearing a $400 per ton carbon tax is needed to keep GHG emissions at or near their current levels, Energy Washington Week reported today. Schneider said the tax would need to be gradually instituted but that it would also need to be "perceived by both consumers and producers as inexorable" in order to be effective.

A House staffer said testimony at the hearing pointed to the need for incentives to develop technologies for limiting emissions while also providing information on the issue to legislators. The hearing also suggested strong Congressional support for an extended and possibly permanent renewables generation tax credit as well as the formation of a research agency dedicated to advanced energy projects.

Schneider stated: "We found that a typical shadow price on carbon (a carbon fee or tax, for example) to prevent the concentration of CO2 from more than doubling was around $200 per ton carbon emitted."
Energy Washington Week , March 7.

Study Finds 15% National RPS Would Shave CO2 Emissions Growth

Wood Mackenzie, a consultant group, has issued a report that has concluded that a renewable portfolio standard of 15 percent would cut CO2 emissions from power plants by 10 percent in 2026, E&E News PM reported. The report said, according to the newsletter: "Emissions are still 18 percent above current levels" versus 31 percent in the base case. "This points out a shortcoming in the perception that renewable energy alone can result in the huge GHG reduction targets being proposed."

Wrote the newsletter: "The Wood Mackenzie report says that as concern over reliance on fossil fuels mounts, it is 'increasingly likely' that RPSs will expand though congressional action or wider adoption at the state level. The report also finds that a federal RPS would lower demand for natural gas by 3 billion cubic feet per day, and correspondingly projects reduced prices for natural gas than would be the case without the RPS. The study also projects lower electricity costs due to lower fuel prices and lower fossil fuel consumption. Wood Mackenzie predicts a savings of $240 billion in 2006 dollars. But the RPS would also create new capital construction costs of $134 billion to create new renewables capacity over the next roughly 20 years."

E&E News PM, March 6.


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As I've said before, there is no ONE solution to the problems created by greenhouse gas emissions. Rather, there are lots of facets to the problem and thus, we need many different solutions. Serious taxes on carbon and serious requirements for a large percentage of energy to come from renewables are two such facets. Of course, as with anything, Mr. Satan, he lives in and among and through the details. There are, for example, renewables and there are renewables. Emphasis on ethanol is pushing up the prices of most meat and anything sweetened by corn syrup.