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DYERSVILLE, Iowa (NAFB) – Renewable energy is recognized as a factor in mitigating climate change, but there’s still a long way to go.
Over the weekend, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a summary of its report for policymakers titled Climate Change 2014 – Mitigation of Climate Change.
Pro-renewable organization 25x?25, whose name and goal is to have 25% of U.S. energy sourced from renewables by 2025, reports the summary says global emissions of greenhouse gases have risen to unprecedented levels, despite a growing number of policies to reduce climate change.
Between 2000 and 2010, those emissions grew more quickly than in each of the three previous decades. The study also shows carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes contributed nearly 78% of the total greenhouse gas emission increase from 1970 to 2010.
However, the report notes many renewable energy technologies have demonstrated performance improvements and cost reductions. According to the report, renewed investment in the kinds of renewable energy advocated by 25x?25 can bring about the desired outcome of limiting the global mean temperature 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The panel says sustainability of production practices and the efficiency of those practices are issues to consider, but that bio-energy can play a critical role for mitigating climate change.
