Net Zero By 2050: Reality or Fantasy?

On Thursday 22 June as we hosted a lunch event for a dynamic panel discussion on Australia’s energy pathway to net zero emissions by 2050. CIS welcomed NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee, University of Queensland Adjunct Professor Stephen Wilson, and Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) National Co-Convenor Felicity Wade.
The NSW and federal governments are legislating targets to achieve net zero emissions based on 2005 levels by 2050, and our diverse panel of experts, each representing slightly different approach, provided in-depth insights and engaged in an exploration of various angles related to this topic.
With coal production in NSW set to continue for another decade, how is the current mining industry minimizing its carbon emissions to achieve the net zero goal set by government policy?
What will the energy landscape in 2050 look like?
And how can global emissions come down while non-OECD nations chug along the smoky path to prosperity?
What role could nuclear energy play in reducing carbon emissions on the pathway toward net zero by 2050?
Stephen Galilee is the CEO of the NSW Minerals Council since 2012. He was also a Senior Adviser to former Prime Minister John Howard and Chief of Staff to Mike Baird during his time as NSW Treasurer.
Felicity Wade ran the Wilderness Society in NSW for over a decade and has worked in responsible investment and politics. She currently works for Washington DC based think-tank, World Resources Institute supporting forest protection in the Indo-Pacific and leads the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN).
Professor Stephen Wilson is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at UQ, provides advisory services through Cape Otway Associates, and is a director of an energy technology start-up.
Tom Switzer is Executive Director of the Centre for Independent Studies and a presenter on ABC Radio National.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
CIS promotes free choice and individual liberty and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can prosper. Follow CIS on our Socials;
Twitter - / cisoz
Facebook - / centreindependentstudies
Linkedin - / the-centre-for-indepen...
📖 Read more from CIS here: www.cis.org.au/
💬 Join in the conversation in the comments.
👍 Like this video if you enjoyed it and want to see more, it really helps us out!
🔔 Subscribe to our channel and click the bell to watch our videos first: / @cisaus
⏲️ Missed this event live? Subscribe to CIS to be up to date with all our events:
www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
📝 Subscribe to CIS mailing list- www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
💳 Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - www.cis.org.au/support/

[@DavidFMayerPhD]

We need to stop panicking over carbon dioxide. The problem has been grossly exaggerated.

[@surfingsub5854]

Plants thrive better around 1K ppm. We're currently about 414 ppm. At 200 ppm certain plants start to struggle and die off. By 150 ppm most plants die. Human beings can withstand a few degrees in temperature change. Mankind cannot survive most plants dying off. Be careful what you ask for and don't go too far. We can come back from too high of temperature. We cannot come back from loss of most plant life.

[@alfredadrianjr.4702]

You are missing the point. Dependable precipitation, fertile soils, and the conditions for a stable climate are necessary for consistent crop production. Those conditions will disappear in the coming decades. Keep in mind that a 3 C world will entail far higher summer and spring temps, erratic planting times as winter snow turns to incessant rains sometimes stalling spring planting which we've already experienced, and insane temp changes over short periods. Over a typical growing season you can expect 6-10% dec in yields for an avg 1 C inc due to inc in photorespiration alone. Nah...we are totally screwed man. The earth's energy imbalance has doubled in just the last decade and more is in the pipeline. Aside from the coming famines the oceans have been over fished now for decades. A collapse of the 16 major global fisheries and the global demise of our coral reefs are unstoppable as is the continued destabilization of the cryosphere. THE WASTELAND IS COMING unless WW III finishes us off first.

[@surfingsub5854]

@@alfredadrianjr.4702 Sorry but no one reading this will be alive by the time the climate truly ends their life. However if we do reduce too low everyone would be gone sooner. You believe what you wish to believe and I'll believe what I wish to believe. The politics of this planet are more dangerous than the actual climate.

[@alfredadrianjr.4702]

@@surfingsub5854 That's true, nevertheless plant physiology, especially crop physiology has clear limits. In the last century plants have reduced stomatal density on their leaf surface by approx 30% as CO2 levels have risen. This is one of the primary adaptations we have observed in plants that provide them with greater resiliency in the face of dessication. We also know that grain protein levels have decreased as CO2 levels have increased- the seeds are now less nutritious then they were a generation ago. But whatever you think CO2 levels are not going down for the foreseable future, climate is becoming more unstable, and future growing conditions will have far more hi temp days and more drought as well as more floods. We are already witnessing these extremes. Google Ogallala Aquifer depletion to learn how truly we are screwed. Ranchers have already abandoned much of the hi plains. The current young replacement generation of farmers know their time is limited because of water depletion and soil erosion. Be assured that future harvests in the coming decades will be far smaller than they are today. Because America feeds nearly a billion people outside it's borders the result will be devastating on our economy and on the geopolitical system. Why do you think Putin wants Ukraine? Do you think it's just nationalism? No. Eastern Ukraine, the Donbas, is a bread basket!

[@WorkmanBoatWench]

You will NEVER make net zero and you ALL know it. Nothing but a redistribution of wealth!!

[@anthonymorris5084]

Not only is it a fantasy, but it's also not even necessary.

[@brobsonmontey]

Wade just makes me shake my head. The selective and skewed use of cherry-picked statistics and "facts" to support her argument is so transparent that anyone who has done even a modicum of independent research can see through them like a cheap pair of glasses. If the NEM had been implemented, in full, as designed it would have worked fine - but the NEM was not implemented in full, with substantial political manipulations entered into the market causing significant distortions in its behaviour (I say this as someone who was very close to its initial design).

[@jamesmaddox7507]

Thank you for an excellent debate, this is a topic I have been pondering for the last 6 months or so. It is nice to hear that some people in our community are taking it seriously, even if our government is not.

[@simmonslucas]

It's too expensive. I tried. My wife and I tried for 2 years to get a near bet zero home plan off the ground. It is to expensive.

[@GlobeHackers]

We can’t have a sustainable future without reinventing culture and economics.

[@davelhughes77]

#ClimateScam

[@chrisruss9861]

Mass immigration does not help achieving net zero or a reliable grid.
Think of all the expensive tunneling for infrastructure just for starters.

[@derptothemaxclearly]

That is one incredibly insufferable woman. 10/10 politically slanted BS basket.

[@WorkmanBoatWench]

WEF puppet