COP15 Up and Down

Just something quick here. Big events of the day at Bella Center in Copenhagen have included the walk-out by the G-77 (they may be coming back at 7pm) in protest over the possibility of developed countries abandoning the Kyoto Protocol track. African Union came together as one in protest. Also, Sec of Energy Steven Chu announced the US renewable energy technology initiative, a proposed $350 million for clean techs in developing countries. The IEA's new data. And a new Yes Men prank committing Canada to a 40% emissions reduction by 2020. I'll leave you with some info from the IEA:

"With energy accounting for 84 percent of global CO2 emissions, the IEA has analysed what needs to be done to limit the long-term concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to 450 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 equivalent, in line with a 2°C increase in global temperature. On current trends, unless new measures are taken, global energy-related CO2 emissions will reach 40 Gigatonnes (Gt) by 2030 (29 Gt in 2007) and continue rising thereafter, whereas climate stabilisation requires emissions to peak around 2020 and then decline."

"The 450 Policy scenario of our flagship publication World Energy Outlook 2009 is the right path to green growth but it is a radical departure from current trends," Mr. Tanaka stressed. "For instance, the world would need to retire a significant portion of today's coal-fired electricity plants before the end of their lifetime - by 2030, early closures around the world would amount to the equivalent of today's total coal-based power generation in Japan, EU and the US. Around 60 percent of global electricity production in 2030 would need to come from a mix of renewables (37 percent), nuclear (18 percent) and plants fitted with carbon capture and storage (5 percent). Another illustration is the dramatic shift needed in car sales, with hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles representing 60 percent of sales in 2030, from around 1 percent today."