No more fossil fuels?!

[Sriram]

Hi everyone,

The Paris Agreement on Climate change has been accepted.  The deal is to limit fossil fuels and keep the average warming to below 2 degrees.

http://us.cnn.com/2015/12/12/opinions/sutter-cop21-climate-reaction/index.html

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The Paris Agreement, which came out of two weeks often-sleepless negotiations at a conference center here in a Paris suburb, is just the type of blaring signal the world needs that the era of fossil fuels is coming to a rapid close. Countries around the world pledged to do the near-impossible -- limit warming "well below" 2 degrees, and below 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels if feasible. That basically requires the world to move rapidly toward 100% clean energy, producing zero net greenhouse gas emissions between about 2050 and 2080.

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We have built an entire global civilization around fossil fuels. Factories, offices, vehicles, power and so on are dependent on  use of fossil fuels.

Is it possible to replace most aspects of modern life that are dependent on fossil fuels with renewable energy?

Any views?

Sriram

[Udayana]

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/03/uruguay-makes-dramatic-shift-to-nearly-95-clean-energy

"As the world gathers in Paris for the daunting task of switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy, one small country on the other side of the Atlantic is making that transition look childishly simple and affordable."

[Hope]

Good to see that all governments have agreed to the proposal; now we have to wait to see whether the nations' parliaments actually ratify it.  Even then, it will leave a lot of questions unanswered.  For instance, if we aren't to see any monitoring until the ealy 2020s (I think 2023 is the suggested first reporting date) can we be sure that anything will happen in the immediate future, or will the proposed reduction of CO₂ by 1.5% actually see us reducing the level to a higher level than we are already at?

[Hope]

Two interesting articles on the issue - one from October 2015, one from earlier this month:

http://www.ethicsdaily.com/the-moral-and-economic-issues-of-climate-change-cms-23008
http://tinyurl.com/nzmyaxr

[floo]

I see Kellingley Pit in North Yorkshire, the last coalmine in the UK, is to close today.

[Maeght]

I see Kellingley Pit in North Yorkshire, the last coalmine in the UK, is to close today.

Yes, and yet we are importing coal from elsewhere. Seems a bit odd - but guess its the economics.