provisions that all parties periodically report on their progress in pollution and
execution and undertake international scrutiny.
Key characteristics of the Paris mitigation deal include the following (C2ES
2015):
• Reiterate the objective of reducing global temperature increase below 2
C while
encouraging attempts to restrict the increase to 1.5
C
• Create concrete mitigation agreements by all leaders to make “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and implement internal mitigation initiatives to
achieve those commitments
• Require all nations to report on their emission levels on a routine basis and to
“advancement in implementing and accomplishing” their NDCs, and perform
global review
• Pledge all nations to send new NDCs within 5 years, specifically expecting them
to “document development” beyond their previous goals
• Reiterate developed nations ‘legal responsibilities under the UNFCCC to finance
developing nations’ efforts, while also facilitating voluntary contributions from
developing nations for the first time
• Confine the original target of mobilizing $100 billion annually in assistance by
2025, with a new, larger target to be laid for the period after 2025
• Lead to a new framework, similar to the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development
System, allowing for pollution cuts in one nation to be counted against the NDC
of another.
GHG Emissions and Mitigation Opportunities from
the Geothermal Industry
Carbon emissions per kilowatt-hour of power produced from high-enthalpy thermal
springs are substantially lower than those created from fossil fuels. Emissions of
greenhouse gases predicted in g kWh
À1 range between 4 and 740 g, with such a total
increase of 122 g kWh
À1 based on data from 85 geothermal systems in 11 countries
(Fridleifsson et al. 2008). Considering that high-enthalpy geothermal energy for
electricity generation is mainly confined to seismically active areas, the most successful areas are situated in Central America and the East African Rift Valley with
regard to decreased GHG emissions from the growth of high-enthalpy geothermal
resources. In 2008 Fridleifsson et al. demonstrated that 39 nations have the capacity
to generate nearly 100% of their power needs from geothermal energy. Given the
current global prospective and rational investment rate, Fridleifsson et al. (2008) also
demonstrated that geothermal resources could meet approximately 8.3% of global
electricity consumption by 2050. Considering that this investment will substitute
fossil fuel-fired power stations, this investment could reduce carbon dioxide emission by nearly 1 billion tons by 2050. Ogola et al. (2012b) propose a much larger
opportunity, or range, of mitigated GHGs, from 1 and 5 billion tons by year 2050.
260
K. Yadav et al.
execution and undertake international scrutiny.
Key characteristics of the Paris mitigation deal include the following (C2ES
2015):
• Reiterate the objective of reducing global temperature increase below 2
C while
encouraging attempts to restrict the increase to 1.5
C
• Create concrete mitigation agreements by all leaders to make “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and implement internal mitigation initiatives to
achieve those commitments
• Require all nations to report on their emission levels on a routine basis and to
“advancement in implementing and accomplishing” their NDCs, and perform
global review
• Pledge all nations to send new NDCs within 5 years, specifically expecting them
to “document development” beyond their previous goals
• Reiterate developed nations ‘legal responsibilities under the UNFCCC to finance
developing nations’ efforts, while also facilitating voluntary contributions from
developing nations for the first time
• Confine the original target of mobilizing $100 billion annually in assistance by
2025, with a new, larger target to be laid for the period after 2025
• Lead to a new framework, similar to the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development
System, allowing for pollution cuts in one nation to be counted against the NDC
of another.
GHG Emissions and Mitigation Opportunities from
the Geothermal Industry
Carbon emissions per kilowatt-hour of power produced from high-enthalpy thermal
springs are substantially lower than those created from fossil fuels. Emissions of
greenhouse gases predicted in g kWh
À1 range between 4 and 740 g, with such a total
increase of 122 g kWh
À1 based on data from 85 geothermal systems in 11 countries
(Fridleifsson et al. 2008). Considering that high-enthalpy geothermal energy for
electricity generation is mainly confined to seismically active areas, the most successful areas are situated in Central America and the East African Rift Valley with
regard to decreased GHG emissions from the growth of high-enthalpy geothermal
resources. In 2008 Fridleifsson et al. demonstrated that 39 nations have the capacity
to generate nearly 100% of their power needs from geothermal energy. Given the
current global prospective and rational investment rate, Fridleifsson et al. (2008) also
demonstrated that geothermal resources could meet approximately 8.3% of global
electricity consumption by 2050. Considering that this investment will substitute
fossil fuel-fired power stations, this investment could reduce carbon dioxide emission by nearly 1 billion tons by 2050. Ogola et al. (2012b) propose a much larger
opportunity, or range, of mitigated GHGs, from 1 and 5 billion tons by year 2050.
260
K. Yadav et al.