Carbon Lock-In: Barriers to Deploying Climate Change Mitigation Technologies

The problem with the “portfolio approach” in American energy policy

“…Weak IPR protection has thus prevented U.S. companies from developing more efficient coal washing processes, advanced combustion turbines, and carbon capture and storage systems. IPR concerns connected with clean coal systems are cited as one of the most significant impediments towards the diffusion of such technologies to China, Indonesia, and other developing countries-especially where new technologies could be reverse engineered (Brown et al 2007). No less than forty-two energy firms and companies (such as British Petroleum Solar, Clipper Windpower, General Electric, Mitsubishi, Renewable Energy Corporation, Sharp, and Vestas), in contrast, have already invested heavily in solar and wind manufacturing plants in China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.…”

Sustainability appraisal of used vehicle trade policy options in sub-Saharan African countries

“…Such a regional biofuel initiative could inevitably lead to some co-benefits such as reduced emissions of aerosols, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and other air pollutants and subsequently to reduced health problems, crop damage and acid rain. As Brown et al (2007) explain, such an approach would increase the competitiveness of low-carbon fuels and would place greater value on carbon capture and sequestration projects. They further point to high costs as a function of technical risks, which suggest policy interventions such as increased support for public-private R&D collaborations and demonstrations as well as greater documentation of technology performance.…”

“…Ideally, road transport contributes 73% of the 13% of carbon dioxide emitted by the transport sector and, unlike the other sectors, 90% of emissions are emitted during the use of automobiles rather than their production (Watson et al 2005). In spite of this trend, the transfer of second-hand vehicles to developing countries has gradually evolved to become an important business sector almost unnoticed and does not yet play a role of any significance in public debate (Janischweski et al 2003;Figueroa et al 2004). While enterprises in developing countries have recognized that second-hand vehicles from industrialized countries represent a low-cost and fast solution to the problem of rapid deterioration of public transport and the replacement of ''outdated transport modes'', dealers from industrialized countries have discovered the market gap and are now extremely active in this field (Janischweski et al 2003).…”

“…While greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles may not be a serious concern for developing countries at present, the rapid pace of urbanisation and even the faster pace of motorisation will change the situation in future (Figueroa et al 2004). On a per capita basis, vehicle emissions from developing countries will remain far below those of their developed counterparts well into the future but total emissions from developing countries are projected to surpass those of developed countries within a decade or two (Sustainable Mobility Project 2004; Fig.…”

Conditional inevitability: Expert perceptions of carbon capture and storage uncertainties in the UK context

“…Because CCS does not require a break with coal reliance in the energy sector, it has been envisioned as a pragmatic end-of-pipe technological fix to anthropogenic global warming (Unruh and Carillo-Hermosilla, 2006). It has been estimated that the technology could reduce worldwide CO 2 emissions by as much as 4 gigatonnes (Gt) by 2035 (IEA, 2010), provide a window of time to develop cost-effective renewable technologies (Brown et al, 2007), and result in significant cost savings compared with a non-CCS scenario (IEA, 2010;Stern et al, 2006). CO 2 has been captured and separated from natural gas streams and industrial flue gases for several decades (IPCC, 2005).…”