A number of promising technologies have been the focus of recent climate change technology discussions. In the power sector, a great deal of interest has focused on carbon capture and sequestration. Coal resources are abundant and cheap; without a viable future for those resources, it may be difficult if not impossible to effectively respond to the climate change threat. As the only off-the-shelf, large-scale, zero-carbon power source, nuclear also has an important role—with the caveat that waste disposal and proliferation issues must be successfully addressed. Renewable energy sources and energy efficiency improvements round out the electricity portfolio.
In the transportation sector, there are potential improvements in conventional gasoline engines, new hybrid-electric engines, new clean diesel engines, possibly hybrid-diesel engines in the future, and eventually fuel cell vehicles.
Fellow Shalini Vajjhala explores how siting difficulty could impact the development of different types of renewable energy resources and constrain the implementation of policies intended to promote renewables in different regions.
