The Politics of Climate Change by Anthony Giddens

Author:Anthony Giddens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley

Figure 6.1 Selected indicators and top five countries in terms of renewable energy sources

Source: REN21, 2010. Renewables 2010 Global Status Report (Paris: REN21 Secretariat)

The first could involve interventions such as placing shields or deflectors into space to reduce the amount of solar energy reaching the earth. The second would mean either removing greenhouse gases directly, or using the natural world to do so – for example, by seeding the oceans with substances that would cause them to absorb more CO2. Some place faith in the possibility of constructing a technology that will extract CO2 from the air and allow it to be stored.11 Small-scale models of such ‘scrubbers’ exist. Just as in clean coal technology, the CO2 would have to be sequestered – which, given the quantities involved, is a problem. It will be a mammoth task to develop the technology on the scale needed to make a meaningful impact. Yet its potential is large, since it is the only technology known at the moment that could actually reverse the causes of global warming.

The Royal Society notes that there are no major programmes of research on any of the methods considered, and proposes that such programmes be instituted, since, otherwise, discussions of geo-engineering will remain wholly speculative. International scientific organizations should coordinate a programme of research that would provide concrete evidence about what might be feasible.

As there are no guaranteed technological solutions, radically increasing energy efficiency has to be high on the agenda. The constructing of eco-homes and other environment-friendly buildings is likely to be very important for the future. The German Passivhaus has such high levels of insulation that it can be heated by the warmth of the human body alone, even in sub-zero temperatures. Dramatically heightened energy efficiency is the essence of Amory Lovins’s notion of ‘natural capitalism’, which he defines as capitalism that includes a full economic valuation of the earth’s eco-systems.12 It involves ensuring that natural resources – not just energy, but also minerals, water and forests – stretch many times further than they do today. His ultimate aim is not just to reduce waste, but to eliminate it altogether. In closed production systems, every output would either be returned to the ecosystem as a nutrient or become an input for another manufacturing product. A further objective would be to move away from the usual notion of making goods for consumers to purchase; instead, they would rent them. At the end of a given period, the producing company would buy them back. Manufacturers would thereby have an interest in concentrating on the durability of their products; when they are exchanged against new ones, they would be wholly recycled.

These ideas may sound unrealistic, but in some ways and contexts they are closer to being realized than most of the hoped-for technological innovations, since they have already been put into practice. For example, a large glass-clad office tower in Chicago needed a major renovation some years after it was built. The glazing was replaced by a new type

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