Garnaut says: It’s not to late

The Garnaut Climate Review has warned of the grave dangers of not reducing climate change stating that it will lead to dire consequences for humanity. However, the report also sheds some positive light on the issue, stating that it is still not too late to start doing something about it.

In Australia, there is a long-term goal to reduce all emissions by sixty percent between the year 2000 and 2050. In addition to this, they also hope to reduce emissions by up to fifteen percent by 2020.

Focusing on renewable energy sources is one of the things that Australia is doing to reduce these emissions. In addition, raising the taxes of major polluters is also on the agenda. Seeking green alternatives to fuel is essential as is optimizing energy efficiently in homes, businesses and public buildings with an emphasis on totally renewable and “free” sources such as solar energy and wind power.

To be established before 2010, a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is also in the works. This technology will be aimed towards the biggest polluters in the country and will be compulsory.

With this new scheme, businesses will have to pay extra for the pollution they produce but there will be a number of carbon pollution permits allowed every year. To make the system fairer, businesses will also be able to buy these permits from other companies who have not used their full quota.

Currently, in Australia, most renewable energy comes from hydroelectricity, or from the force produced by running water. This is, however, not ideal with complicated hardware and structures such as damns being required that are extremely costly to build.

With the biggest sources being solar and wind, Australia hopes to get twenty percent of its electricity grid fueled by renewable sources by 2020. We can be part of this by first: making our homes as efficienct as possible and secondly sticking some solar panels on our roof to generated the small amount of power that our newly efficienct home needs to be self sufficent.