The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued another report warning about the serious consequences to the planet that could follow if the world does not take decisive action on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. This report is described as a ‘synthesis report’ which is based on reports published by three Working Groups that have already been published.
The report states that there is at least a 95 per cent level of certainty that human activity is responsible for global warming, rather than natural climate variablity, and states that “warming by the end of the 21st century will bring high risks of severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts globally,” and recommends that energy produced by fossil fuels (which does not include carbon capture and storage) be phased out by the end of this century.
Governments and industry are urged to invest in and implement new carbon-free energy technologies to mitigate the risks of devastation that could result in staying on the current course. Developing of more wind, solar, nuclear, and carbon capture and storage are frequently mentioned as the pathway to a carbon-free future.
There’s no mention of LENR in the report, nor nuclear fusion — which is not so surprising at this point — but I would think that if LENR is shown to be technologically and commercially viable this could be an energy source that could be highly recommended by the IPCC and other such bodies concerned about climate change as a way forward in developing carbon free energy.
The report itself is not especially easy reading. It seems to be something of a compromise document; there are various statements made throughout the document with most statements followed by a description of the the level of confidence, agreement, or evidence among the document’s authors.
There’s lots of news about this report today. For more reaction and summaries see the collection of articles at Google News here.