NOVA On PBS Explains How To Get To ‘Carbon Zero’ – Fast

The bad news is from new UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report that says we are going to breach the dangerous heating of the planet by 1.5 degrees Celsius over the next five years. “WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5°C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency,” WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas says in their press release.

This is a huge blinking red light that we have to take broader, deeper and more systemwide actions to reduce emissions, and therefore, global warming, to try to avoid the irreversible, catastrophic consequences to our way of life.

When we think about our energy-intensive, carbon-emitting lives, it’s daunting to consider how we need to transform our economy.

But, we’re closer than you might think, according to Dr. Melissa Lott, Director of the Research Center on Global Energy Policy at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and the lead scientist in a new Nova documentary airing on PBS called “Chasing Carbon Zero,” reported by veteran science journalist Miles O’Brien.

What is “net zero”?

“What is net zero and what does it mean to get there by 2050? And what's the pathway like? Where are the solutions? What can we use that we have to actually help us along the way?,” are the questions I sought to have Lott answer In an exclusive interview on Electric Ladies Podcast. “So, the goal is net zero, which is a balance between the emissions we put into the air and the emissions we take out. We want to get about halfway there very, very quickly.”

How close are we? The good news, Lott says, is “we're actually already on track to get about a quarter of the way there. So, we're halfway to halfway. And that's something that I don't think enough people know about. You know, when you look at the data, we have made progress here in the United States. It's not fast enough… but…It's actually quite significant.”

What we need to get to carbon zero though, is “a massive change…across the system,” Lott said, but, she added, we know what we need to do. “We know what technologies we have, how we can use them, how they can work together to actually get us to our goal… so now, it's about making the choice to do that.”

Here’s how we can get to carbon zero – more easily than you might think – according to Dr. Lott:

· How to think about cutting emissions: Emissions come from electricity, transportation, buildings, industry and agriculture, Lott said. She drew a pie chart (pictured) and then broke down each category.

· Electrify the biggest single source of emissions – transportation: “So, out of total emissions in the United States, about a quarter, it's a little bit over that, I think it was 27% last year, of emissions come from transportation. And when we look at transportation, because it's the biggest single source, what we see is a lot of progress around things like electrifying personal vehicles,” Lott explained. “You see a lot more electric vehicles out on the roads than you did just a few years ago…and also a build out of the infrastructure that's needed for that.”

· Bring down fossil fuel emissions from 60% to as close to zero as possible: Lott sets the record straight on just how much of our emissions come from fossil fuels: “All the stuff that keeps the lights on every day for us and keeps the economy running, when it comes to electricity today in the United States, about 60% of it comes from fossil fuels,” Lott clarified. “Of that, a lot of it, so 40% comes from natural gas, and just under, and right around 20% comes from coal. So, 40 plus 20, 60% of the total. And so, what we're looking at is bringing down those numbers as far as possible.”

· Use clean energy for power plants: Power plants are the second biggest source of emissions Lott described, adding using renewables will get those emissions down. “What we look at is increasing the amount of renewables we use in the system, and increasing the use, potentially, of nuclear power, or at least keeping it online. Because right now, nuclear provides about 20% of our electricity and half of our clean power.” A new rule from the Biden administration would require power plants to cut emissions by 90% by 2040 or close.

· Carbon capture as way to keep emissions from going into the air: “We talk about things like carbon capture. So, you're still maybe going to burn something, but you're going to capture all the gases that you don't want to get out in the atmosphere before they go and then put them underground and store them there permanently.” This is a tool countries like Iceland and New Zealand are using to lower emissions to nearly zero, Lott added.

· Industry and buildings are the “last big levers” – and where we have more control: As Lott put it, we “have a lot of choice actually, and have a lot of control over, you know, how is energy coming into our buildings and what can we do to actually make our homes lower carbon in the near term. And so, when you look at buildings overall, commercial, residential, so homes and offices, hospitals, all of that, these are about 13% of total emissions in the country….So we can cook with electricity instead of gas, and we can heat and cool our water and our air with electricity instead of gas.”

It’s about making the choice to do it. “We need to make sure that everyone has access to a reliable and affordable electricity across this country. And doing that in a zero carbon way,” Dr. Lott insisted.

“Now, it's about making the choice to do that.”

Listen to the full interview with Dr. Melissa Lott on Electric Ladies Podcast here.