California emissions, carbon neutrality plan draws criticism
https://phys.org/news/2022-06-california-emissions-carbon-ne…
California air regulators are likely to hear a barrage of criticism Thursday on a plan to slash fossil fuel use and reach carbon neutrality by 2045, a proposal that would require a sweeping shift in how the state powers its massive economy in the face of climate change. It will be the California Air Resources Board’s first public discussion of this year’s draft scoping plan…
Doing so would require 30 times as many electric vehicles on the road compared to today, six times more electric appliances in homes, four times more wind and solar generation and 60 times more hydrogen. Even with such a sweeping transition, the plan estimates California will still emit at least 94 million metric tons of carbon dioxide—about 22% of state emissions today—by 2045. All of that would also need to be removed from the air…
Howard Herzog, a senior research engineer in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Energy Initiative, said the level of carbon removal the air board’s plan will require significantly more clean energy. To meet the plan’s goals, the state will need to massively ramp up solar, wind and battery storage. “One of the biggest constraints will be finding enough carbon-free energy to scale up to that level,” Herzog said.
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