Technical Solutions

Project Drawdown

The Project

Founded in 2014, Project Drawdown® is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help the world reach “Drawdown”— the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline.

Since the 2017 publication of the New York Times bestseller, Drawdown, the organization has emerged as a leading resource for information and insight about climate solutions. We continue to develop that resource by conducting rigorous review and assessment of climate solutions, creating compelling and human communication across mediums, and partnering with efforts to accelerate climate solutions globally.

“The 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming, based on meticulous research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world“

Paul Hawken and the several hundred scientists and activists developed Project Drawdown meant to reverse global warming, using existing technologies that in a many cases will cost less than it will save.

"Drawdown 2020"

"Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming" – ed Paul Hawken – Penguin Books – Apr 2017.

The Role of Investments

But how we manage investments has an effect too, see:

"Did Project Drawdown miss a crucial climate solution?" – GreenBiz, Sasja Beslik – March 2018

The Need for Land Management

Land Management issues are also important, see:

"This Land is Our Land: The Struggle for a New Commonwealth" - Jedediah Purdue - Princeton University Press – Sept 2019

The Project Drawdown Quiz

CNN included a simple quiz on what you might know about Project Drawdown in:

"The most effective ways to curb climate change might surprise you" - CNN - April 19, 2019

Technologies in Development

Technological progress is still needed on many fronts to reverse global warming, including:

• Energy Generation
• Energy Storage
• Energy Efficiencies
• Transportation
• Cement
• Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Broad scale but still technological plans are also in development:

• Systemic Proposals

Energy Generation

Main article: Energy Generation

Electrical energy generation from non-fossil-fuels sources is critical for cutting CO₂ emissions. Sources include solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, nuclear and tidal. Of these New Mexico is particularly well positioned to take advantage of its high solar radiance and abundant winds. While nuclear power is available it comes with high costs and continuing waste disposal technical problems.

Energy Storage

Main article: Energy Storage

Many forms of energy storage are under development, some more than others. Promising technologies include hydrogen, gravity, chemical, mechanical and batteries. The advantages of hydrogen energy storage include the ability to generate hydrogen via the electrolysis of water. Gravity storage systems vary from stacking blocks, to moving railcars around to lowering heavy weights up and down mine shafts. Chemical systems (exclude hydrogen) based on photoelectrosynthesis can store energy from sunlight in the synthesis of bio-fuels. Mechanical systems include compressed-air and flywheels. Advanced battery technology, such as air-flow batteries, have interesting cost and performance characteristics thought they may not be rechargeable in the usual sense.

Energy Efficiencies

Main article: Energy Efficiencies

Demand for energy of all forms can be reduced by improving how we use energy: LED lighting uses considerable less electricity over incandescent lights. While countries and communities continue to rely on energy from fossil-fuels, improved efficiencies help cut CO₂ emissions. Even when renewable energy is available improved efficiencies allow less investment in new renewable energy systems. Candidate areas are:

• Buildings & Cities - better insulation, city wide EV public transportation
• Industry - convert furnaces and kilns to run on electricity or direct concentrated solar power.
• Transportation - convert all forms of transportation to use energy storage technologies, develop biofuels for air travel and ocean transportation.

Transportation

Electric Vehicles & Infrastructure

From the Sierra Club and Plugin America Model Policies to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption (Version 3.0 July, 2019) advise:

Policymakers must prepare for this major shift in how transportation is fueled by implementing bold policies that will support—and accelerate—this transformation to plug-in electric vehicles (EVs). This toolkit is designed to accelerate the switch to these clean vehicles in an effective, sustainable, and equitable way by providing public officials and advocates with model EV policies.

Biofuels

Aviation and ocean shipping have distinct disadvantages when it comes to using batteries for energy storage. Until electrification of airplanes becomes feasible at scale, biofuels would reduce the impact of the current use of fossil fuels. Similarly, the large amounts of bunker fuel used by large cargo ships make battery storage difficult again. Until cargo ships and perhaps cruise ships can be electrified, there will be a need for biofuels.

These fuels yet need to be developed economically, at scale either from fast growing bio-sources or recycled sources.

• Ethanol based fuels
• Bio-jet fuel
• Biodiesel
• Algal based fuels

Ethanol

Development must consider any impacts on farming for food. Corn ethanol for example can take agricultural land away from food production for transportation purposes, when transportation benefits from electrification as battery prices continue to fall.

Bio-jet Fuel

The current technologies for producing renewable jet fuels can been categorized as alcohols-to-jet, oil-to-jet, syngas-to-jet, and sugar-to-jet.

In 2016 Anthropocene Magazine reported that, with the help of a hardy new strain of the common gut bacteria E. coli, researchers have invented a one-pot process to convert switchgrass into a chemical compound used to make jet fuel. The simple, low-cost method could make the bio-jet fuel more competitive with kerosene-based jet fuels, of which the aviation industry uses 1.5 billion barrels every year. See:

Green jet fuel in one easy step - Anthropocene Magazine - May 16, 2016

Road Construction

Highway construction generally relies on either cement or asphalt road beds (pavements). The industry claims asphalt roads actually have far fewer GHG emissions than cement over their life cycle:

"Carbon Footprint: How Does Asphalt Stack Up?"

According to the article, for a 50 year life-cycle, conventional asphalt was calculated to have 500 CO₂e tonnes/km while (Portland cement) concrete was 1610 CO₂e tonnes/km. In 2017, there were 4.18 million miles of road in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, according to the Federal Highway Administration. About one third are unpaved. The 50 year total emissions, assuming all paved highways were asphalt (and the same width) comes to 2.24 GTe, versus over three times that for concrete. For comparison, Project Drawdown estimated that over 20 years (2030-2050) worldwide composting - number 60 on the list - would reduce GHG by a similar 2.28 GTe. It should be noted that most asphalt contains bitumen a byproduct from oil and gas refining, and can be recycled by reheating into new construction. Some bitumen occurs naturally.

Cement

Main article: Cement

Advances in cement technologies aim at reducing the CO₂ emissions during manufacture, cutting the amount of cement used in construction and making concrete without any cement at all. There are a number of initiatives that private industry is already pursuing.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Main article: Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Technologies are being pursued to capture CO₂ in the atmosphere directly, to capture CCO₂ in the emissions from factories and power plants and to promote natural processes. A variety of relatively exotic technologies for artificial carbon capture include metal-oxide frameworks, Cerium catalysts and Zeolite absorption. Improvements in membrane technologies allow concentration of CO₂ enabling some of these approaches.

Systemic Proposals

Main article: Systemic Proposals

Detailed academic models show ways to transition entire economies over to renewable energy sources. Integration issues between intermittent solar and wind energy generation and storage needs are being addressed using real-world data in order to engineer energy infrastructure. Such system solutions are needed to meet actual demand and generation patterns.