<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 66, 118);" class="">Would a carbon tax help to innovate more-efficient energy use?</div><div style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; text-align: right; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class="">August 27, 2019</span></div><div style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;" class=""><br class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 238);" class=""><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-kerning: none;" class=""><a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190827111120.htm" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190827111120.htm&source=gmail&ust=1567089953600000&usg=AFQjCNEDQgC4GvYvPtCdZIG8fbKaJHkgbQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class="">https://www.sciencedaily.com/<wbr class="">releases/2019/08/190827111120.<wbr class="">htm</a></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-height: 22px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">Despite advances in solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">, fossil fuels remain the primary source of the climate-change-causing carbon emissions. In order to halt global warming at the 2 degrees Celsius limit set by the Paris Agreement, we must reduce and eventually stop or completely offset carbon released into the atmosphere by burning of oil, coal, and gas.</span></span></p><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">"It has long been theorized that raising carbon prices would provide an incentive to reduce emissions through energy efficiency improvements," explained lead author Rong. "So, we looked to history to determine how cost increases have affected energy use efficiency in the past."</span></p><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">The researchers developed their own version of the productivity model created by Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Solow.</span></p><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">They found that historically, in various countries, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">when the cost of energy comprised a larger fraction of the cost of production, those countries found new ways to reduce energy use or to use it more efficiently.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""> Rong and his colleagues asked what would happen if these historical relationships between energy costs and efficiency improvements continued into the future. When this dynamic was continuously in play, according to their model, by 2100 energy usage would be reduced by up to 30 percent relative to simulations where this dynamic was not considered.</span></p><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><b class="">"</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class=""><b class="">Other studies have examined how taxing carbon emission would drive innovation in renewables,"</b> explained Caldeira. "<b class="">But we show that it would also </b>lead to more-efficient consumption of energy -- not just by getting people to use better existing technology, but also by motivating people to innovate better ways to use energy. This means that <b class="">solving the climate problem, while still hard, is a little easier than previously believed."</b></span></p><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><b class="">Journal Reference</b>:Rong Wang, Harry Saunders, Juan Moreno-Cruz, Ken Caldeira. <b class="">Induced Energy-Saving Efficiency Improvements Amplify Effectiveness of Climate Change Mitigation</b>. </p><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><i class="">Joule</i>, 2019; DOI: <span style="color: rgb(76, 122, 159);" class=""><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2019.07.024" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2019.07.024&source=gmail&ust=1567089953601000&usg=AFQjCNEmOMdq7RRjcB7S5c0iCpVYPB5-Bg" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class="">10.1016/j.joule.2019.07.<wbr class="">024</a></span></p><div class="">
<div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;" class="">***************************************************************<br class="">“It’s time that <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">everyone,</span> from the humble homeowner to the highest levels of business and government, rethink their relationship with energy and take action. </span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">Relying on renewables alone won’t be enough.”</b><br class=""><br class=""><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikehughes1/2019/08/02/climate-change-18-months-to-save-the-world/#166763c749bd" class="">https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikehughes1/2019/08/02/climate-change-18-months-to-save-the-world/#166763c749bd</a><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""></div>
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