Imperial College London
Portrait Picture

Professor Niall Mac Dowell FIChemE FRSC

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Centre for Environmental Policy

Professor of Future Energy Systems
 
 
 
//

Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9298niall Website

 
 
//

Location

 

16 Prince's GardensSouth Kensington Campus

//

Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Galán-Martín:2018:10.1039/C7EE02278F,
author = {Galán-Martín, A and Pozo, C and Azapagic, A and Grossmann, IE and Mac, Dowell N and Guillén-Gosálbez, G},
doi = {10.1039/C7EE02278F},
journal = {Energy and Environmental Science},
pages = {572--581},
title = {Time for global action: an optimised cooperative approach towards effective climate change mitigation},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7EE02278F},
volume = {11},
year = {2018}
}
Download

RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The difficulties in climate change negotiations together with the recent withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Agreement call for new cooperative mechanisms to enable a resilient international response. In this study we propose an approach to aid such negotiations based on quantifying the benefits of interregional cooperation and distributing them among the participants in a fair manner. Our approach is underpinned by advanced optimisation techniques that automate the screening of millions of alternatives for differing levels of cooperation, ultimately identifying the most cost-effective solutions for meeting emission targets. We apply this approach to the Clean Power Plan, a related act in the U.S. aiming at curbing carbon emissions from electricity generation, but also being withdrawn. We find that, with only half of the states cooperating, the cost of electricity generation could be reduced by US$41 billion per year, while simultaneously cutting carbon emissions by 68% below 2012 levels. These win–win scenarios are attained by sharing the emission targets and trading electricity among the states, which allows exploiting regional advantages. Fair sharing of dividends may be used as a key driver to spur cooperation since the global action to mitigate climate change becomes beneficial for all participants. Even if global cooperation remains elusive, it is worth trying since the mere cooperation of a few states leads to significant benefits for both the U.S. economy and the climate. These findings call on the U.S. to reconsider its withdrawal but also boost individual states to take initiative even in the absence of federal action.
AU  - Galán-Martín,A
AU  - Pozo,C
AU  - Azapagic,A
AU  - Grossmann,IE
AU  - Mac,Dowell N
AU  - Guillén-Gosálbez,G
DO  - 10.1039/C7EE02278F
EP  - 581
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 1754-5692
SP  - 572
TI  - Time for global action: an optimised cooperative approach towards effective climate change mitigation
T2  - Energy and Environmental Science
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7EE02278F
UR  - https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/EE/C7EE02278F#!divAbstract
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/56816
VL  - 11
ER  -
Download