Slashdot Mirror
EU Aims To Be 'Climate Neutral' By 2050 (bbc.com)
AmiMoJo writes: The European Union says it is aiming to become the first major economy to go 'climate neutral' by 2050. Under the plan, emissions of greenhouse gases after that date would have to be offset by planting trees or by burying them underground. Scientists say that net-zero emissions by 2050 are needed to have a fighting chance of keeping global temperatures under 1.5C this century. The EU says the move will also cut premature air pollution deaths by 40%. The EU says that this can be done with existing technologies such as solar and wind energy which would have to be ramped up to provide 80% of electricity. Energy efficiency measures such as home insulation would also need to be boosted to reduce energy consumption by half by the middle of the century.
have to be offset by planting trees or by burying them underground.
How does burying trees underground help reduce emissions?
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
"Under the plan, emissions of greenhouse gases after that date would have to be offset by planting trees or by burying them underground."
How does burying trees underground offset CO2?
with most people dead, and those alive back to burning wood to stay warm.
Courtesy your friendly neighbourhood habitually drunk career politician.
There will even be an EU in 2050.
Sucks to live in europe.
Too late :/
The U.S. has already reduced carbon faster than the EU.
We also have a faster uptake cycle of new technology, and aren't as reliant on diesel as Europe is.
I can see the U.S. being almost entirely renewable by 2050 with mostly electric cars, then it's easy to offset what remains... my guess is U.S. is carbon neutral by 2040 (or sooner, 20 years is a long time)..
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I think you underestimate the growing nationalist fascist sentiment in Europe right now due to the large flood of refuges and EU enforced multiculturalism. It has gotten so bad that Hilary Clinton even wrote to the EU asking them to reconsider the refuge situation for the time being because it is producing a large amount of opposition.
The French are literally rioting in the street over carbon taxes and the EU elite continue to cling to the comforting delusions that they'll be allowed to run anything in 2050.
My observation is that governments around the world, at all levels, are great at making pronouncements, less great at accomplishing the stated goals. Recent example, note EU not on track: According to the UN, most major polluters are not on track to meet their Paris goals.
In addition to the EU, Rwanda also launched a climate change mitigation plan today Rwanda launches national plan for Paris Agreement on climate change
Another day, another set of cheap pronouncements.
Hügelkultur on a continental scale....
> Assuming your communist project will last till 2050
When are people going to tell the climate change hoaxers to go shove it up their a$$es? Sure, the climate changes, as it ALWAYS does. Now we are going into a solar minimum and temperatures will begin dropping very, very quickly. This has nothing to do with CO2 emissions. It's all about the SUNSPOTS!
Get prepared for a few hundred years of cold cold weather. Say NO to carbon taxes.
The EU most likely won't exist in its current form past the 2020s so claims like this are just politicians pandering to non issues when there are much worse problems to address like rising crime and falling birthrates.
Similar to the way politicians in the US pander on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and trans rights.
If I'm not mistaken: isn't it true that NONE of the countries that signed on to the Paris Climate Accord are anywhere NEAR their current goals? If I'm right, then how can the EU claim what they're claiming here?
So long as corporations are more-or-less in charge of this, there won't be ANY chance of our species reversing the damage done to Earths' climate. They'll keep focusing on the money like they always do, and pay 'lip service' to the whole climate thing, just enough to make people think they give a damn. Meanwhile all they care about is making money while they're still alive, and to Hell with 'future generations', it's their problem.
The European Union says it is aiming to become the first major economy to go 'climate neutral'
You mean first major country. The EU is a federal government with member states, and by 2050 will have grown enough in power will be similar to the Unites States government, with member countries little more than anachronistic states like New Jersey and Idaho.
It took 150 years for this in the US, and that's with a constitution in theory granting the government limited powers and no others. 30 more years for the EU is very doable.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
For trWools' faster, cheaper,
This is not going to happen if they keep shutting down nuclear power plants.
always learning soemthing on the interwebZ.
tomorrow i am going to burn some tree logs and watch them vanish like amagic trick when they slowly turn into carbon dioxid!
also, now i understand why all city pavement is so squeaky clean: all the carbon soot from diesel cars turns into carbon dioxide!
Ambiguous summary.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
...has the EU emissions gone up in 2017: https://www.reuters.com/articl... and are going up even more in 2018? When are they planning on starting?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
"EU Aims To Be 'Climate Neutral' By 2050". I am tired of ever more ambitious goals in order to detract from the reality of constantly increasing emissions. If they don't actually do anything to actually effect their "aims", nothing will happen. This has become as disconnected with reality as Trump is, just that everybody feels oh so much more conscientious about it.
Personally, I'd start reducing carbon emissions by strangling people in their illuminated Xmas decorations. Stops both a waste of electricity and a waste of oxygen.
It cares about emissions, full stop.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
Look, it's all well and good to say in 12 years you'll start to have an 80 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), but what the EU needs is a 2020 120 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard.
What is the difference?
Four things:
1. Eliminate all tax deductions, tax exemptions, tax incentives, and tax subsidies for all fossil fuel energy. Period. Including depreciation.
2. Require 120 percent of all net new energy use be renewables. That means for every KWHr you add, you have to remove 20 percent of fossil fuel power plants. With zero exceptions. And 100 percent of all the new energy must be the far cheaper wind and solar energy infrastructure, instead of the more expensive coal and natural gas and oil usage today.
3. Remove all street parking for diesel vehicles. All of it. In every municipality of more than 1000 people. This includes garages and malls.
4. Ban all exports of fossil fuel infrastructure worldwide. No exceptions.
Do that and you'll only have massive heat waves and flooding that kill thousands of people, instead of millions of people.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Right now, the nations that are doing the best WRT cutting back on CO2, are those that :
1) are closing down coal if they have any,
2) have replaced these or added CLEAN energy.
3) the best are those with Hydro, Geo-thermal, and Nuclear. Oddly, Solar and somewhat wind, have not really helped local economies to cut back their emissions. Germany and Portugal have moved to around 40-50% of their electricity from solar and have spent enormous sums of money. problem is, that the more they move towards these, the more they have to import.
4) Costa Rica, Indonesia, and Northern Europe depend on Hydro, Geo-thermal, and Nuclear and have some of the cleanest and cheapest electricity costs. Wind can be cheap, but its intermittent nature destroys it for anything except lowering some costs.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Can't wait for that.
Will also mean that they will have to put down all their critters.
sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
Scientists say that net-zero emissions by 2050 are needed to have a fighting chance of keeping global temperatures under 1.5C this century.
So there should not be a spot on the globe with a temperature above 1.5C? Why would anyone want that?
If you want to talk about a metric, how about naming it correctly first?
Ask the French how well their carbon taxes are going for them. Last I checked it's not going so well.
If you want to reduce CO2 then it cannot be done with a government fiat. This is a technological problem where a solution cannot be legislated into existence. You want more people to use wind and solar power? Then make wind and solar power as cheap, reliable, and plentiful as coal.
Let's get more nuclear power. People will tell me I have to compromise on some things to prevent global warming. Well, a compromise implies both sides give and take a little to find some common ground. Here's some common ground I believe that both sides should be able to meet on, nuclear power. Nuclear power is safe, low CO2, reliable, plentiful, and cheap. If the global warming alarmists cannot compromise on this then I have no desire to give up anything, let the world burn if the hill they want to die on is stopping what has been proven historically to be the best source of energy ever developed.
I can no longer take anyone seriously that thinks we can solve this problem without nuclear power. We've tried everything else and France is seeing revolts as a result. If getting more nuclear power is beyond the pale for these people then I simply give up. If there is no compromise on nuclear power then there is nothing further to discuss.
invented a piece of software called the mosaic browser whose purpose was to allow the embedding of banner ads in information pages. ;-)
That's when the interweb REALLY took off.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
The EU is the federal level of a federated, hierarchical governance structure.
In that aspect it is analogous to the Union of United States of America.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
Give the carbon "tax" proceeds back to all citizens, so it is revenue neutral. Those who think this is impossible need to be introduced to something called "math".
Those who still call that an additional tax are just gas-guzzler-owning, lying a-holes.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
Try actually making a case. Because there's plenty democratic about the EU and the way it is run. It's almost identical to the USA's system in the 1800s. The only unelected part doesn't get to make rules, only suggestions. And if that pisses you off, then you should want to leave the UK too, since the HoL is far less democratic and has much more power.
Besides, shouldn't "climate neutral" mean that they don't take sides between the climate and polluters?
Wipe out 300 million Americans to save 5 Million Kt of CO2.
300 million Chinese would only be 2.4
300 million Europeans 2.1
300 million Indians only 0.6
The best way to remove emissions is to remove people. And the best people to remove are Americans.
Main difference is still you are twice as high as Europe, even with your tiny decreases.
You already trolled this before. Get some new material.
Manufacturing doesn't make that much CO2. Wasteful American lifestyles do.
You have been a busy little bee haven't you WindBourne. lying about beef, lying about electric cars, lying about CO2 emissions, lying about Aircon, lying about airline procedures and lying about other people being liars. Now you add lying about China's coal use. It can't possibly be 80% as you have been shown numerous times.
Why all the lies?
You should focus on having honour instead of worrying about how to spell it.
And because of that we changed from that old scheme of parochial thinking. Or do you still shit your pants like you used to and growing up hasn't changed what you think is acceptable?
Abort an American, the planet will thank you