China indeed seems to be the hardest problem to solve.
But wouldn't it be better to go after the demand for energy from fossil fuels, instead of supply? I wonder if there has ever been a large scale attempt at this
But wouldn't it be better to go after the demand for energy from fossil fuels, instead of supply? I wonder if there has ever been a large scale attempt at this
There has been, it's called the "global pandemic". The world will never find a better way to attack demand for energy consumption in such a short period. And you did not even notice. Your post would have fit perfectly well in HN circa 2019.
> What unprecedented measures could be taken to stop climate change?
Easy. Stop talking about it. Unthinkable I know. But I guarantee you life would go on and we'd all find other things to overreact to. Just like the "pandemic".
Assume a distressed fossil asset is for sale, and you want to acquire it to retire it permanently. You’re engaged with someone who isn’t emotional; it’s just business. You negotiate on the value of the asset(s), and once an agreement is reached, transfer of ownership occurs and it’s a done deal. It’s not like consumers when you’re at the whim of their identity and self in some cases, trying to sell them on clean power or mobility.
Bonus points if you can use leverage (policy, relationships, whatever) to drive down the value of the distressed asset before acquiring it for forced retirement. That’s just being capital efficient.
What I'm trying to say is that (I think) the root of the problem are the economic incentives for fossil fuel companies. It's easier for them to compromise with governments (who can't strong-arm them) and pay fines (which in turn gets charged to their customers). I don't think this problem has ever been solved.
But what if for some reason consumers, at a large scale, stopped paying for energy produced with fossil fuels? Wouldn't they be forced to adapt?
Consumers may be emotional, but can also be swayed with the right incentives (governments typically play this part). I assume this to be extremely hard of course, but theoretically I feel like it would be the only way to align all parties in the same direction.