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| Overview Capabilities Staff Projects |
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Carbon Emissions & Climate Policy
Global climate change is perhaps the most significant challenge that we face as a civilization. Our voracious appetite for fossil fuels has caused the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to rise sharply. During the preindustrial period (and at least 650,000 years prior to that ) about 280 of every million molecules in the atmosphere were CO2 per molecules; today that number is 380, higher than in any other time in human history, and rising fast. Human consumption of fossil fuels is the leading contributing factor, with current emissions of about six billion tons of carbon each year.
The United States is responsible for about 25 percent of the global emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere each year, and the electric power sector accounts for approximately one-third of those emissions. The simple fact is that our appetite for energy is changing the atmosphere we depend on, and that will mean changes in climate during the coming century. The more carbon (and other greenhouse gases) we pour into the atmosphere, the more severe and costly those changes are going to be. In the absence of efforts on the national level to address greenhouse gas emissions, Synapse provides consulting and research services to environmental groups, state and city governments, regulatory bodies and companies who are taking the lead in reducing electric sector emissions of greenhouse gases.
Synapse works to understand the complicated dynamics of the wholesale electrical market and to examine the fundamental principles behind resource adequacy approaches. We also continue to review and critique integrated resource planning activities in those states where electric utilities remain vertically integrated.
Synapse’s work on carbon emissions and climate policy has included the following projects: |
Consulting on methodologies for quantifying CDM credit for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |
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Consulting for environmental groups on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the northeastern United States |
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Testimony on incorporating carbon costs into prudent electric utility planning |
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Quantification of carbon emissions reductions associated with clean energy and demand management projects on an interconnected electricity grid |
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Development of regional clean energy plans that stabilize and reduce carbon emissions by aggressively developing energy efficiency and renewable generating resources |
