16/04/2019

Renewable Energy Could Save $160 Trillion In Climate Change Costs by 2050

Forbes - James Ellsmoor

Key Points
  • In the face of rising global emissions, intensified electrification and an increase in renewable energy could make the difference that ensures we reach future climate goals
  • The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) recommends that nations take more aggressive actions to ensure a quick and effective transition away from fossil fuels.
In the face of rising global emissions, intensified electrification and an increase in renewable energy could make the difference that ensures we reach future climate goals.
With development and energy demands soaring worldwide, there is an opportunity for clean, renewable energy to supplant fossil fuels and take over as the main form of electricity generation.
New findings published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) have emphasized the need to scale up efforts to transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy.
The Global Energy Transformation: A Roadmap to 2050 outlines how the world can successfully implement large-scale renewable programs that will not only help reduce carbon emissions but improve global socioeconomic development.
A demonstrator is detained for sitting in the road at Oxford Circus in London, Friday, April 12, 2019. Young protestors took to the streets after a government report has revealed that the nation is set to miss its emissions targets. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The analysis provided by IRENA shows that global energy demands are expected to double by 2050, and that 86% of global electrical needs could be met by renewable energy within that same timeframe. A large scale up from current levels, the extra energy load would be carried mostly by wind and solar installations.

Barriers To Change
Despite the optimistic outlook, IRENA warns that more needs to be done in order to reach the goal they anticipated. IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera explains that, “The energy transformation is gaining momentum, but it must accelerate even faster, The UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the review of national climate pledges under the Paris Agreement are milestones for raising the level of ambition. Urgent action on the ground at all levels is vital, in particular unlocking the investments needed to further strengthen the momentum of this energy transformation. Speed and forward-looking leadership will be critical – the world in 2050 depends on the energy decisions we take today.”
Donald Trump says he is imposing new tariffs to "protect American jobs and American workers." Trump acted to impose new tariffs on imported solar-energy components and large washing machines in a bid to help U.S. manufacturers. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Whilst the push for renewable energy certainly has its benefits, there remains a wide range of obstacles in the way of their large-scale development and implementation. For example, the past two years have seen the United States’ solar industry lose momentum over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, whilst lawmakers in Australia are failing to adhere to the nation’s COP21 emissions reduction goals and have continued on with their plans to open the world’s largest open-air coal mine despite widespread public condemnation. These political setbacks are relatively widespread and have been reducing the ability of the renewable energy sector to efficiently evolve and develop, and could have a lasting impact on global emissions.

A Time For Action
IRENA’s report has noted that transitions have been slow and that current rates of emission reduction are not in line with global climate goals. The report recommends that nations take more aggressive actions to ensure a quick and effective transition away from fossil fuels that will help reach the previously agreed-upon goals and ensure that mitigation of climate change remains a priority. In order to do so, IRENA advocates for stronger national policy focusing on long-term zero-carbon strategies as well as promoting innovation in the fields of renewable energy, technology and smart-grids.
Commenting on the report’s findings, La Camera said that “The race to secure a climate safe future has entered a decisive phase. Renewable energy is the most effective and readily-available solution for reversing the trend of rising CO2 emissions. A combination of renewable energy with deeper electrification can achieve 75% of the energy-related emission reduction needed.” What La Camera is describing has already happened in many places worldwide - many islands have been leading the charge in renewable energy transitions, and are becoming incubators for energy innovation.

Race Against The Clock
The benefits stemming from embracing clean, renewable energy go a lot farther than just reducing pollution and carbon emissions. IRENA has illustrated the risks of a slow transition, and every year that carbon emissions increase is another year that negatively affects the environment, social welfare, and the wider economy. Likewise, IRENA has also been quick to point out the knock-on effects of a renewable energy transition in its report, outlining how a rapid transition could save the global economy US$160 trillion in costs associated with climate change.
A chinstrap penguin walks past the Quito Glacier near Ecuador's Pedro Vicente Maldonado Research Station on Greenwich Island, Antarctica, which conducts research, develop sscientific exploration and to documents the environmental impacts on glaciers, flora and fauna in the region.
“The shift towards renewables makes economic sense,” emphasizes La Camera. “By mid-century, the global economy would be larger, and jobs created in the energy sector would boost global employment by 0.2%. Policies to promote a just, fair and inclusive transition could maximize the benefits for different countries, regions and communities. This would also accelerate the achievement of affordable and universal energy access. The global energy transformation goes beyond a transformation of the energy sector. It is a transformation of our economies and societies.”
With time of the essence as nations grapple to reduce the current and future effects of climate change, IRENA’s report punctuates the emergency of the situation - but also how beneficial an efficient transition away from fossil fuels will be for the economy.

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Poll Shows 50% Of Australians Support Shifting All Sales Of New Cars To Electric Vehicles By 2025

The Guardian - 

Transition to electric vehicles to cut carbon emissions has dominated climate policy debate in the Australian election campaign
Bill Shorten charges an electric car after launching Labor’s climate change action plan. A car manufacturer has called for an end to Coalition ‘fear-mongering’ over electric vehicles. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
One in two Australians would support shifting all sales of new cars to electric vehicles by 2025, according to polling by the Australia Institute.
The progressive thinktank surveyed a nationally representative sample 0f 1,536 Australians about their attitudes to electric vehicles. It found support was similar across all states and territories, including 52% in Victoria and Western Australia, 49% in Queensland and 48% in New South Wales.
Twenty-eight per cent of those surveyed were opposed to the idea.
The poll was conducted online between 20 February and 4 March, with representative samples by gender, age and state and territory.
Release of the polling comes at the end of a week in which the transition to electric vehicles in order to cut Australia’s carbon emissions from transport, which make up 19% of all emissions, has dominated debate about climate policy before the election.


Federal election week one roundup: Coalition short-circuits over electric cars.

Carmakers have signalled they are making the shift, with Hyundai Motor Group calling for an end to “fear-mongering” over new vehicle technologies.
On Friday, the independent senator Tim Storer, who chaired a Senate committee inquiry into electric vehicles, said he was “deeply concerned” by what he saw as an anti-technology scare campaign being run by some within the government and the media.
“It is akin to someone in 1990 arguing mobile phones were not going to take off. It flies in the face of fact, and the public should not buy it.”
Several countries have already announced they will ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars in coming years, including Norway, the Netherlands, India, Ireland, Israel, the UK, France, Spain and China.
In the Australia Institute’s poll, more than half of Labor voters (56%) supported the idea that 100% of new vehicle sales be electric by 2025, and 65% of Greens voters.
Forty-two per cent of Coalition voters were in favour, versus 38% who were opposed, with the remainder unsure.
Respondents were also asked if they would support or oppose a national program to switch to an electrically charged transport system, including public transport.
Overall, 62% supported this idea, including 55% of Coalition voters, 71% of Labor voters, 78% of Greens voters and 54% of those who vote for other parties or independents. Some of the strongest support for this idea was among Queensland (62%) and Western Australia (68%) respondents.
“Australians already have a strong appetite for electric vehicles, with 50% interested in purchasing an electric vehicle by 2025 – a full five years earlier than Labor’s EV target and significantly faster than the government’s strategy” Richie Merzian, the climate and energy program director at the Australia Institute, said.
“Australia Institute research shows that Australians across all parties support a national electric vehicle policy – all that’s missing is policy leadership.”
The major parties have clashed over electric vehicle policy this week, with the prime minister, Scott Morrison, criticising Labor’s target for 50% of new vehicles to be electric by 2030.
He later backtracked to say the issue “isn’t about electric cars, this is about the fact that Bill Shorten can’t explain what his policies mean to Australians”.
Australia lags behind most other OECD countries in implementing clear emissions policies for transport.
Hyundai said this week the next government needed a clear policy on vehicles, including vehicle emissions standards that have driven the switch to EVs in the northern hemisphere.
Merzian said Australia could also look to countries such as Norway, which has introduced incentives such as making electric vehicles exempt from sales tax, waiving fees for road tolls and parking, and providing rebates on registration of electric vehicles.
Merzian said such targets only seemed out of reach for Australia because the country was so far behind in policy and infrastructure.
“Instead of driving Australia backwards by preserving our gas-guzzlers, any future government should look to the fine example of countries like Norway who already reached 50% of new car registrations as EVs in 2018 by using popular public incentives to accelerate electric vehicle uptake,” he said.

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Doctors Warn Australian Health System Not Prepared For Climate Change

National Geographic - Angela Heathcote

These doctors join in a chorus of outcries about climate change from some of the country’s most respected professions.
Queensland floods.
IMAGE CREDIT: Kathie Nichols/Shutterstock
WITH MORE bushfires, floods and other natural disasters predicted for Australia’s future, some Australian doctors say the country’s health system is unprepared for the fallout.
Today, doctors and public health experts published an article in the Medical Journal of Australia, the official journal of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), calling for a more resilient health system, recommending three fundamental changes.
  • A whole-of-system approach, integrating all elements of population health and health care throughout the continuum of preparedness, response, and recovery.
  • Improve the timeliness of surveillance as current disease notification systems are slow.
  • Determine the standards of care relevant to particular situations.
Dr Gerard J. Fitzgerald, from QUT’s School of Public Health and Social Work, Professor Anthony Capon from the University of Sydney and psychiatrist Dr Peter Aitken of Queensland Health says that natural disasters of the 2018-19 summer made it clear that the health system has to be strengthened.
Dr Fitzgerald believes that the medical profession understands climate change and the impacts it may pose to the health system.
“The vast majority understand climate change and its impacts on the health profession. Doctors are scientifically trained. Anyone scientifically trained gets it. But there’s need for awareness about its impacts on the health system.”
The article was published in advance of the 21st biennial congress of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM), which will be held in Brisbane in May.

How will climate change affect the health of Australians?
According to the researchers, the health threats presented by climate change will vary according to geographic location.
“The rise in temperatures will not be consistent across the planet, and may increase or reduce local rainfall, depending on other factors,” they write.
“The effects of climate change will also vary regionally as individuals and societies adapt behaviourally, structurally, and physiologically.”
The primary threats, specifically caused by rising temperatures include heat stress, hyperpyrexia and heat stroke, and indirectly through their impact on individuals with
chronic cardiovascular, respiratory and renal diseases or mental health problems.
Rising temperatures also has been shown to change the distributions of allergens and pathogens and their vectors.
“These effects can be moderated by adaptive strategies but exacerbated by other factors, such as pollution and humidity, as well as by dehydration, exercise, and infectious diseases and other health conditions,” they say.

Mental health impacts
According to Dr Fitzgerald, the medical profession has to increase its awareness of not just the direct impacts of natural disasters, but also the indirect impacts.
“If you think of a disaster, such as a cyclone or flood, there are people directly affected. The directly affected are those who might drown in a flood or are injured by a falling building during a cyclone.
“The indirect effects are less obvious. There are mental health consequences if someone loses their home or a loved one. What’s even more stressful is fighting with insurance companies three years after the event. They’re battling with questions such as where to live or what they’re going to do with the kids.”
Those most adversely affected by the indirect and direct impacts of climate change, Dr Fitzgerald says, are people of poorer communities.
“It’s too late to reverse climate change so now we have to adapt. The people who have the economic power to adapt will cope better. People who can’t afford that are the people at greater risk from heat waves and other natural disasters.
“People living in low lying easily flooded areas such as those in Queensland, where property is cheap, hits poorer populations. Natural disasters are well known to affect poorer populations.”

The recommendations
One of the three recommendations put forward in article is “a whole-of-system and comprehensive approach” to help the Australian health system prepare for climate-related disasters and emergencies, according to Dr Fitzgerald.
“Identifying immediate direct effects (injuries and deaths) is relatively straightforward but longer term impacts and indirect health consequences are less clear,” he says.
“For example Hurricane Maria killed 64 people in Puerto Rico in 2017 but the estimated all-cause increased mortality for the following three months was 4645.”
The example of Hurricane Maria prompted the researchers to advocate for a whole-of-system approach that starts with preparedness through to recovery.
The second recommendation requires an improvement in disease notification systems, which currently rely on individuals recognising and reporting emerging problems, according to the researchers.
“Enhanced real time surveillance of ambulance, emergency department and hospital capacities and of patterns of demand should enable more timely recognition of new problems and increase the response capability of the health system,” they write.
Lastly, they say the standards of care relevant to particular situations need to be determined. “In extreme events, this includes sympathetic care for people who cannot be saved,” the paper reads.
“Every day 22,000 people attend hospital emergency departments in Australia – we have never had an event with 22,000 casualties,” says Dr Fitzgerald. “We need to have scalable arrangements which can deal with the full range of challenges from the routine to the totally unexpected using standardised policies and procedures.”

Doctors, lawyers and firefighters raising their voices
The doctors behind this most recent paper join a slew of outcries concerning Australia’s lack of preparedness for the impacts of climate change from some of the country’s most respected professions.
Last week, 20 former fire and emergency chiefs warned Australia is unprepared for the impacts of climate change, asking for more “national firefighting assets.”
The second-longest serving fire and rescue commissioner in New South Wales Greg Mullins, who is now a councillor with the Climate Council, said he could no longer predict the seasons.
“I started firefighting in 1971 and the bushfire seasons were extremely predictable.
“You knew when there was a bad season coming because there was an El Nino and drought. In the 90s, I stopped being able to predict it.”
Dr Fitzgerald will speak at the 21st World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine congress on disaster preparedness.

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