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The Shocking Truth: How Far We Are From Meeting Our Paris Agreement CO2 Reductions
Buckle-up everyone, because I’m about to destroy your perceptions about how far we are from meeting our Paris Agreement COP21 CO2 reduction commitments. Stand by to be amazed!
You might think that we’re doing well in regards to our clean air commitments, after all, there are more electric cars (EV’s) replacing internal combustion engine cars (ICE) and coal power plants in many countries are being shuttered and replaced with natural gas-fired power generation (much, much, cleaner!) and that renewable energy (RE) represents almost all of the new power plants built over the past 5-years. (True, by the way)
Not bad. But far from good, as you’ll soon see.
So, let’s take a look at how far we are from meeting our 2015 Paris Agreement COP21 clean air goals. Remember, I said to ‘Buckle-up’!
What’s it Going to Take?
The short answer, of course, is more than you’ve got, more than your city has got, more than your country has got, and (so far!) more than our world has got. For example…
Let’s say that global aviation (all aviation, all the time — whether commercial airlines or private aircraft, helicopters, drones, etc.) represent about 2.1% of global CO2 emissions (even the airlines agree with this metric) and that starting tomorrow, all airlines and private aircraft in the world would suddenly stop flying. Forever.
Would THAT be enough for us to meet our COP 21 carbon emission standards?
No it would not.
OK, so, that wouldn’t do it, so let’s add all global shipping in the world (all ships at sea and on lakes that deliver cargo to various ports around the world) which combined add about 2.2% of the annual global carbon dioxide additions to our atmosphere. (Nobody disputes this number either)
Would THAT be enough for us to meet our COP 21 carbon emission standards?
No it would not.
Wait a minute. If we ended all annual global aviation and all annual global shipping tomorrow and forever! — doesn’t that represent a total of 4.3% of all annual global CO2 emissions?
Why, yes it does.
But even that won’t allow us to meet our COP21 CO2 commitments? Shouldn’t that amount of CO2 reduction be enough to meet those targets?
Nope. Not even close.
No, the scale of the global warming problem is much worse than we are able to correct via a simple 4.3% reduction in the annual global CO2 output.
I Need to Get to The End of This! What’s it Going to Take to Meet Our COP21 Targets?
Let’s get a look at some other, larger numbers.
Global transportation (all kinds of transportation, everywhere, on land, sea, and in the air) account for 29% of all global CO2 emissions. What if we cut all of it, beginning tomorrow and forswear all kinds of motorized vehicles forever; Would that do it?
Yes, it would.
But, we’d be forced to give up all cars, trucks, trains, ships, aircraft of all kinds, and any other kind of motorized vehicle, and we’d need to shop locally and travel on foot, bicycle or horseback. Forever.
OK, we can’t do that. Give me another option.
You got it!
So, primary power production (creating electricity from a combination of hydroelectric dams, thermal power plants that are coal, oil, or natural gas-fired, and nuclear power plants) that is consumed by residential users account for about 30% of annual global CO2 emissions.
Ready to cut the cord and live without electricity forever?
Probably not.
But, just for the sake of argument; If every residential user of electricity on Earth stopped using electricity tomorrow, would we meet our COP21 clean air commitments?
Yes, we would.
OK, we can’t do that. Give me another option.
Righto!
Industry (all industry, including all agriculture, everywhere on the Earth) create about 41% of annual global CO2 emissions — that’s everything from building ships, cars, aircraft, military equipment, paint, oil, diesel fuel and petrol production, beauty products, furniture, carpets, clothing, tires, shopping carts, all kinds of food and drink packaging, all food production, and farmers burning their fields to clear their fields for the next years’ crop.
Ready to give up on all that?
I didn’t think so.
But, just for the sake of argument; If every company and farm stopped producing tomorrow, would we meet our COP21 clean air commitments?
Yes, we would.
OK, we can’t do that. Give me another option.
What If We Shaved a Few Percentage Points From Each of Those CO2 Producers?
Would that work?
Maybe. But it would depend upon our level of commitment. It depends if we care about future generations of humans, of animals, and of the plant life on this planet enough to stick with it. But it wouldn’t be easy. In fact, life on Earth would change dramatically, in ways we can’t begin to imagine.
OK, we can’t do that. Give me another option.
I can’t, because there aren’t any.
It looks like we’re all out of options.
Throw Me A Bone, Here!
OK, there’s one chance in Hell (IMHO) for us to avoid a future global rapid warming scenario where the planet’s air temperature would become too hot to allow life to continue on the surface of our world.
And that is?
The BMW i3.
What?
The BMW i3 is a smallish SUV crossover that runs on battery power — not a large battery — that has a tiny one-cylinder onboard petrol engine to charge the battery when the vehicle is underway. The BMW i3 always travels on battery power (the petrol engine isn’t connected to the driveline, it exists only to keep the battery charged) and it has an onboard five-gallon petrol tank.
All of which means that the i3 takes you everywhere you want to go on battery power, and if the battery gets low, the tiny petrol engine automatically starts up to recharge the battery. You wouldn’t even notice it unless I told you it was on and charging the battery pack. It can even charge the battery when you park the car while you’re shopping if you choose that option setting via the onboard software.
How many cars and light trucks would need to be powered by such a system in order to meet our COP21 Paris Agreement clean air targets?
All new cars and light trucks would need to be powered by such a system for the world to meet its CO2 commitments, and we’d need to begin no later than 2022.
Could it be done?
Yes, of course.
Some larger trucks might need a tiny two-cylinder diesel engine to charge up their batteries (much larger batteries than the i3 uses) but that upgrade would prevent gazillions of gallons of diesel fuel being added to the Earth’s atmosphere annually.
The essence of this approach means that for millions of drivers, they’ll buy about five-gallons of petrol per month — instead of buying five-gallons of petrol per day for the average driver.
And when billions of people start using five gallons of petrol per month instead of five-gallons per day, that’s when annual global CO2 emissions will fall by approximately 14% — which is enough (barely) to meet our COP21 clean air commitments.
See the scale of the problem now?
Want to See the BMW i3 — and it’s Brother, the Mighty BMW i8 Supercar that Employs a Slightly Different Propulsion System?
Keep in mind, that in every way, the only difference between the BMW i3 and normal cars is the propulsion system. And similar applies to the BMW i8 supercar — although in that car, the system is geared to blazing acceleration and high speed performance.
Here are a couple of pictures of the future for you…
BMW i3 electric vehicle (EV) with one-cylinder petrol engine range extender option
BMW i8 electric vehicle (EV Hybrid) supercar
Written by John Brian Shannon
1628-Days Since the 2016 Referendum and Still No Deal!
Well, I told you so.
And I’ve been writing since 2016, telling you that politicians on both sides of the English Channel haven’t got the horsepower to get a trade deal done that would benefit citizens, industry, and governments in both countries. And I was right!
Former Prime Minister Theresa May was ready to ‘sell the farm’ to the EU — virtually handing the entire UK over to the EU in a deal worse than what the UK already had with the European Union! — and even that wasn’t good enough for Brussels.
Which should’ve been the first warning sign. Don’t you agree?
The EU Doesn’t Want a Deal, They Want Things ‘Their Way’ or No Way at All
And I understand that. Nobody likes to be dumped. And there’s no rule that anyone is required to be happy about being dumped.
The EU had things ‘their way’ since 1999 when the UK joined the EU without Britons getting any say on the matter, and British taxpayers have paid £10 billion more per year into the EU annually (on average) than the UK received back from European Union in the form of ‘entitlements and benefits’. Some may use the term ‘subsidy’ but when you pay it to yourself (overpay) it really isn’t a subsidy, is it?
Certain EU politicians have been more petulant about the UK leaving the EU than has been seen in the entire history of world politics. It’s been an embarrassing spectacle. So un-cool. So un-European.
Not that some UK politicians have done better. Either they were ready to betray their country for 60-pieces of silver, or they were actively trying to destroy the UK so that it would have no choice but to stay in the EU, or they were making ridiculous assertions against the EU’s right to exist.
But what politicians and citizens on both sides of the Channel must realize is that the UK has already left the EU — and it’s in the best interest of citizens, industry and governments that both sides arrange a trade deal by January 1, 2021.
Run, Boris, Run!
But any deal the EU would agree to sign Britain’s Prime Minister would be wise to avoid — because the only deal the EU might sign would be so skewed in the EU’s favour that it would be detrimental to Britons, to UK industry, and to it’s trade relationships with other countries.
Therefore, Boris… Don’t Sign any deal with the EU!
Life will continue, tariff levels will be adjusted to WTO standards (the default trade standard between nations) and the UK will have the ability to sign trade deals with other countries/blocs without EU regulatory interference.
Snowflakes on both sides of the English Channel will be bleating that ‘The sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling!’ but in reality, little people, it’s just snowing.
Oh, the trauma!
So, rather than despair, get yourself some outdoor time, take some long walks in the winter wonderland, enjoy the holiday season, and stop trying to arrange a trade deal that (for different reasons) neither side wants. And let’s get ready for a No Deal Brexit, just as I predicted would happen since 2016. And people, let’s make our 2021 slogan ‘Live and Let Live’.
Happy Holidays!
Written by John Brian Shannon
RCEP Trade Bloc Born Today Representing 30% of Global Trade
An historic trade agreement was signed today governing trade between 15 Asian and Indo-Pacific countries that together represent 30% of global trade. It is now the largest trade bloc in the world, eclipsing both the USMCA (United States/Mexico/Canada) free trade agreement and the European Union trade bloc.
The newly-signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is made up of 10 Southeast Asian nations, as well as South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Image courtesy of Wikipedia By Tiger 7253 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is made up of 10 Southeast Asian countries, as well as South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The deal was signed on Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), hosted by Vietnam. Said Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, “I am delighted to say that after eight years of hard work, as of today, we have officially brought RCEP negotiations to a conclusion for signing.” — BBC
“The 15 member countries account for about 30% of the world’s population and GDP, making it the largest trade bloc. It was signed at the Vietnam-hosted virtual ASEAN Summit on 15 November 2020, and is expected to take effect within two years, after it has been ratified by the member countries.” — Wikipedia
In addition to the ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) five of their FTA partners — Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea — have signed on. India is likely to request ‘Observer’ status, with the new bloc extending a warm welcome to India to join them at a later date in this exciting new trade agreement.
The deal was signed on Sunday in a virtual online signing ceremony headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam and has been a work-in-progress for 8-years.
15 countries, including Singapore, sign RCEP, the world’s largest trade pact — Straits Times
Perhaps Serving Notice to UK Negotiators to Get Brexit Done…
Had Brexit already taken place, the UK might’ve been invited to join such a trade bloc, or, at the very least, gain ‘Observer’ status in what is now the largest (by GDP and by population) trading bloc in the world, encompassing 30% of global GDP and a third of global population.
Should India join, it’s likely that Bangladesh would also join, rising both percentages cited above substantially higher.
What country wouldn’t want to be part of a rapidly developing group of countries that might soon represent 40% of global GDP and 50% of the world’s population?
Endlessly bickering about Brexit just won’t cut it in the 21st-century. Nowadays, things happen fast — and you either act promptly or you lose place in the international order. And that’s as it should be…
In the Meantime, There’s Free Trade Agreements that Should’ve been Signed with The Commonwealth and with America Long Ago!
So, let’s get on with it, before more industrious nations leave the UK sitting on the sidelines… again! (NAFTA first, CPTPP second, USMCA third, and RCEP fourth!)
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has done a great job so far, but if other countries can sign historic trade deals in the midst of a pandemic, then the UK should be able to do the same. And we all know why that hasn’t happened…
It’s time to get the scissors out Prime Minister and release the UK from the Gordian Knot that the EU has tied around the United Kingdom.
Letter to Britain 
