Paris Agreement on Climate Change
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many people will want to have an electric vehicle because it is the best
alternative based on cost, quality, performance, and dependability. Electric
vehicles by themselves will only help with part of the issue, though, as the
generation of the electric power for those vehicles should ideally not come
from fossil fuels.
Energy technology innovation in Canada has been reviewed by Jordaan
et al. (2017). These authors point out that innovation helps in meeting
Canada’s greenhouse gas emission goals. Solar and wind energy production
is similarly becoming economically as appealing as the use of fossil fuels.
A continuing issue with wind and solar power, though, is the storage of
energy during peak production periods (e.g. in the daytime for solar power)
for later use (e.g. at night). Steady progress in energy storage technologies is
being made, but the increasing number of electric vehicles can actually have
a positive synergistic relationship on this front as well, with the storage of
energy in vehicle batteries.
There has been great progress in the development of batteries for electric
vehicles and for storage of electricity in those vehicles as part of an electrical grid. Additional developments in battery science and technology are
anticipated, and further reductions in costs will lead to low- cost electric
vehicles in developing countries that are powered by low- cost renewable
power from wind and solar energy (Erickson, 2017). The efforts to advance
energy innovation have many dimensions, some of which can have positive
interaction effects, and aligning policy and technology so that they all work
together effectively will be beneficial.
2.5 Progress Update
Part of the follow- through for the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is to
regularly monitor its progress. The 24th session of the Conference of the Parties
(COP24) to the UNFCCC was held in Katowice, Poland, December 2– 15, 2018,
with the goal of developing implementation details for the Paris Agreement
on Climate Change (Allan et al., 2018; C2ES, 2018; Waskow et al., 2018). The
conference (COP24) included developing and maintaining plans for regular
communication, reporting of progress, reviewing of nationally determined
contributions and recent climate impacts, stocktaking on emissions and financial actions, and aligning investments. Each country is to report its plans for
nationally determined contributions by 2020 and every two years after that,
following a common set of guidelines. There is an expert committee to provide assistance to countries that need help with the communication goal of
each country, providing the information necessary for clarity, transparency,
and understanding. There is to be voluntary cooperation on market- based
approaches. Collective progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be
reviewed every five years. All of this tracking and promotion of progress is, of
17
17
many people will want to have an electric vehicle because it is the best
alternative based on cost, quality, performance, and dependability. Electric
vehicles by themselves will only help with part of the issue, though, as the
generation of the electric power for those vehicles should ideally not come
from fossil fuels.
Energy technology innovation in Canada has been reviewed by Jordaan
et al. (2017). These authors point out that innovation helps in meeting
Canada’s greenhouse gas emission goals. Solar and wind energy production
is similarly becoming economically as appealing as the use of fossil fuels.
A continuing issue with wind and solar power, though, is the storage of
energy during peak production periods (e.g. in the daytime for solar power)
for later use (e.g. at night). Steady progress in energy storage technologies is
being made, but the increasing number of electric vehicles can actually have
a positive synergistic relationship on this front as well, with the storage of
energy in vehicle batteries.
There has been great progress in the development of batteries for electric
vehicles and for storage of electricity in those vehicles as part of an electrical grid. Additional developments in battery science and technology are
anticipated, and further reductions in costs will lead to low- cost electric
vehicles in developing countries that are powered by low- cost renewable
power from wind and solar energy (Erickson, 2017). The efforts to advance
energy innovation have many dimensions, some of which can have positive
interaction effects, and aligning policy and technology so that they all work
together effectively will be beneficial.
2.5 Progress Update
Part of the follow- through for the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is to
regularly monitor its progress. The 24th session of the Conference of the Parties
(COP24) to the UNFCCC was held in Katowice, Poland, December 2– 15, 2018,
with the goal of developing implementation details for the Paris Agreement
on Climate Change (Allan et al., 2018; C2ES, 2018; Waskow et al., 2018). The
conference (COP24) included developing and maintaining plans for regular
communication, reporting of progress, reviewing of nationally determined
contributions and recent climate impacts, stocktaking on emissions and financial actions, and aligning investments. Each country is to report its plans for
nationally determined contributions by 2020 and every two years after that,
following a common set of guidelines. There is an expert committee to provide assistance to countries that need help with the communication goal of
each country, providing the information necessary for clarity, transparency,
and understanding. There is to be voluntary cooperation on market- based
approaches. Collective progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be
reviewed every five years. All of this tracking and promotion of progress is, of