With wind power the EU can cut carbon emissions by 30%
Saturday 26 November 2011By Julian Scola
The world is hurtling towards a climate and energy disaster - that’s the message emerging from the International Energy Agency’s 2011 World Outlook published in November.
The report sets 2017 as a deadline for action: we must stop building fossil fuel plants on such a scale by then or we will lock the world into climate change – beyond 2°C – the level that scientists have identified as dangerous.
At a European Union level, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has long argued that logic requires us to t stop building fossil fuel plants by 2015 because fossil fuel plants have long lifetimes. If we are to meet our 2050 objectives of cutting carbon emissions by at least 80%, we must stop building fossil fuel plants at least thirty years before then.
If we do not take drastic action – which means governments committing to energy policies now that cut our present addiction to fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy – then water shortages, climate-driven migration, sea level rises and other unpredictable consequences will become a reality.
The energy sector is one of the biggest culprits of climate change – and one where we can make the biggest differences. We already have the technology that can drastically help cut carbon emissions – all we have to do is roll it out on a massive scale.
Wind energy is ready to make a big difference
According to the latest EWEA research, wind energy can cover nearly one-third of the EU’s 2020 target to reduce carbon emissions by 20%. That’s one technology accounting for 31% of the 20% cut, alone. The calculation, contained in a report called ‘wind energy and EU climate policy’, is based on European Commission figures which show that coal, gas and oil emitted on average 696g of CO2 per KiloWatt hour of power production in 2010.
In that same year wind energy produced 181 TerraWatt hours of electricity – if that had been produced by coal, gas and oil some 126 million tonnes more of CO2 would have been spewed out into the atmosphere in 2010.
Using the Commission’s data – and EWEA’s prediction that by 2020 some 230 GW of installed wind power capacity will be online producing around 581 TWh of electricity – wind power will save 342 million tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.
Saving that many tonnes of carbon means that 31% of the EU’s 2020 target is achievable thanks to wind power. If emissions avoided by other renewable electricity technologies are included, the equivalent of almost half (48%) of the EU’s target is avoided. That’s a huge saving – renewable energies alone can meet half of the EU’s climate objectives and wind energy can make the single biggest contribution to this effort.
Passing on the burden
A closer look at the EU’s 2020 carbon cutting target reveals that a massive 60% of the total emissions reductions can come from offsets – or buying carbon credits from projects outside the EU via the Clean Development Mechanism. So, within the EU itself only 40% of the 20% reduction target must be made. That amounts to cutting emissions by 1,113 million tonnes compared to 1990 levels – of which 77% can be cut by switching to wind energy on the level foreseen by EWEA’s targets for 2020. If you add other renewables, over 100% of the EU’s internal target can be achieved.
Wind power can take our ambition further
If one technology can cover 77% of the EU’s internal target, and the renewable sector as a whole can cover over 100% of the internal carbon cutting target, then we can be more ambitious.
Even if we moved to a 30% CO2 reduction target by 2020, wind energy could achieve half of the carbon cutting which should be made within the EU. Add all renewable energies and 79% of a 30% target is met.
This would leave just 21% of the internal EU effort to be met by other technologies – potentially less if EU member states plans for renewable energy are exceeded.
EWEA backs a 30% carbon cutting target for 2020 because we know that wind energy can achieve a massive part of it.
Growth potential
It’s not just our planet that would benefit from a 30% reduction target, but the economy too. The European Commission itself has said that the development of resource-efficient and green technologies will be a major driver of growth. The European wind industry creates jobs, export opportunities and greater competition in the power sector which will eventually bring power prices down.
With more ambitious carbon cutting targets, EU investors will retain their confidence in the sector and be encouraged to invest further – the climate and the economy stand to benefit enormously from wind power’s potential.
www.ewea.org