Bradford Seminar with Steve Davis: Net-Zero Emissions Energy Systems

This lecture is part of the David Bradford Energy and Environmental Seminar Series, organized by the Center for Policy Research on Energy and Environment. The seminars highlight scholars and practitioners from various fields working on critical research related to science policy. We invite speakers to share new research they are working on, focusing on important policy-relevant issues. Since its inception in Fall 1999, this series has hosted many speakers who are influential in science & environmental policy. Attendance by Princeton students, faculty and staff is encouraged.All seminars are open to the public on a limited basis with approved RSVP to ccrosby@princeton.eduSEMINAR TOPIC:Stabilization of the Earth’s climate will require that energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fall to very low levels and perhaps go negative if other greenhouse gas emissions continue. However, some energy services (e.g., long-distance freight transport, air travel, highly-reliable electricity, steel and cement manufacturing) will be difficult to provide without adding CO2 to the atmosphere. Moreover, few climate mitigation scenarios address these difficult-to-decarbonize energy services in detail. Prof. Davis will present work analyzing the challenges associated with eliminating CO2 emissions associated with some of these services, including possible or promising technological solutions and research and development priorities. Although there are still abundant options for incremental reductions of energy-related CO2 emissions, if CO2 emissions are to be eliminated, the more difficult-to-eliminate emissions will ultimately need to be addressed. Moreover, rapid growth of these difficult-to-eliminate emissions combined with the long lifetimes of energy infrastructure make the challenge both essential and urgent