Bali climate change conference and solar power adoption

Bali, Indonesia played host to the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference from December 3 – 15.  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) is an international treaty drafted in 1992.  Its aim is to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in order to combat global warming.  The most recent update to the FCCC is the Kyoto Protocol, which was entered into force in 2005.

The Kyoto Protocol addresses emissions of the six main greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride.  Each party to the protocol has an assigned amount, the “maximum amount of emissions (measured as the equivalent in carbon dioxide) that a Party may emit over the commitment period in order to comply with its emissions target”.  At this writing, 174 countries have signed and ratified the protocol.  The United States signed the protocol but has no intention of ratifying it.  In 2005, the U.S. was the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, but by 2006 China took the lead.  The U.S. believes that China and India, another large producer, should not have been exempted from the Kyoto Protocol.  In a 2001 press conference, Bush said ”These and other developing countries that are experiencing rapid growth face challenges in reducing their emissions without harming their economies. We want to work cooperatively with these countries in their efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions and maintain economic growth.”

The same issues again emerged at last week’s Bali conference.  The United States representative, Paula Dobriansky, stated that the U.S. was not going to agree to any terms that limited the obligations of the developing world.  The room erupted in boos.  Papua New Guinea delegate Kevin Conrad said, “We ask for you leadership.  We seek your leadership. But if for some reason you're not willing to lead. Leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way."  Speeches by other representatives made it clear that the U.S. would be to blame if the talks failed.  Finally, Dobriansky agreed to the terms of the new roadmap.  The Bali Roadmap sets in motion plans for a new negotiating process that will culminate in 2009.  This will hopefully lead to an international agreement on climate change by 2012, with an expected deadline for meeting emissions standards in 2020.

Will the Bali Roadmap have any effect on the use of solar energy?  It’s hard to see how solar could not play a part in the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  In the U.S. alone, 2006 carbon dioxide emissions from electricity production were 2,459,800 thousand metric tons.  A 150 kWh per month photovoltaic system can prevent 3600 pounds (about 1.5 metric tons) of carbon dioxide from being released each year.  The average person uses about 1000 kWh per month.  If just one person switched to solar power, they could save about 9 metric tons per year.  If 20 percent of the population switched to solar power, we could save 504,000,000 metric tons per year (based on a population of 280 million).  That is a substantial savings just from a small percentage switch to solar.