The National Research Council has suggested the US needs a measurable domestic greenhouse gas emissions budget target in the range of 170-220gigatons of CO2 for the period 2012-2050.
Its report, entitled Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change, outlines the target while also warning that the longer the wait to reduce emissions, the harder it will be to reach any goal.
As part of its analysis, it focused on a range of global atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations of between 450 and 550ppm and found the resulting budget range corresponds to a reduction of emissions from 1990 levels by 80-50 per cent respectively.
In order to meet an emissions budget however, there will need to be a major departure from existing trends and prompt action is required. In 2008 alone, the US emitted around seven gigatons of CO2.
Among the possible solutions to the problem is a carbon-pricing system such as cap and trade, or a system of taxing emissions. However, the report suggests that carbon pricing alone will not be enough to sufficiently reduce domestic emissions and that emphasis must be placed on increasing energy efficiency; accelerating the use of renewable energy sources; addressing and resolving the key barriers to full-scale testing and commercial scale demonstration of new generation nuclear power; developing power plants with carbon capture and storage technology; and advanced low greenhouse gas emitting transport options.
These are the near-term approaches, but ultimately to tackle climate change several overarching strategies will also be needed. For example, this may include adopting an economy-wide carbon pricing system; complementing the carbon pricing system; creating new technology choices; and more.
