Stabilizing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: What will it take?

Christopher Green

Department of Economics
McGill University

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Working Group III) claims that technologies are available to stabilize atmospheric CO2 at 550 ppmv or lower. In contrast, our work (Lightfoot and Green 2001, 2002) finds that a combination of energy efficiency improvements and renewable energies are not nearly sufficient to achieve stabilization. An implication of this work is that if climate policies are framed on the assumption that existing technologies are sufficient to achieve stabilization when, in fact, they are not, then implemented policies are likely to be very costly and result in time lost and resources wasted before other strategies are pursued that are more likely to contribute to stabilization. An energy/climate policy with greater prospects for successful stabilization than that assumed by the IPCC would have leading industrial nations commit to long-term research and development into new carbon free technologies. Investments in technology will have greater effectiveness than any policy predicated on the assumption that the barriers to stabilization are socio-economic and institutional in nature.

About the Lecturer

Dr. Christopher Green received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1966. After teaching for three years at North Carolina State University, Dr. Green moved to McGill University in 1969.

For more information on this lecture, please contact Bobbie Klein at 303-735-3751.

See Also

CIRES Distinguished Lecture Series

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 Lecture: 10:00-11:00 AM
Reception: 10:00 AM
CIRES Auditorium
University of Colorado at Boulder
(Directions to CIRES)
(Lecture Press Release)