This is how we create a zero emission economy

If we’re going to avoid a climate disaster, we need to find better ways to do everything. Almost every part of modern life—from the food we eat to the buildings we live in—releases greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. We need to zero those emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

I am optimistic that we can do it, but we have to overcome a serious obstacle: green technologies are at a competitive disadvantage with the attitudes they need to change. In general, innovations that represent a significant improvement over what came before are widely accepted. The Internet is a good example. When I was a kid, if I wanted to research a new topic, I had to spend an afternoon in the library. Today, I can pull my smartphone out of my pocket and find what I want to know in seconds.

But green technologies don’t work that way. Their improvements are often invisible. Electrons from a wind turbine won’t run your lights any better than electrons from a coal plant, and a house built with zero-carbon cement won’t feel much better to you. Additionally, most green alternatives are now more expensive than their carbon-emitting counterparts. I don’t think many people are willing or able to pay more for the same product that can be bought for less now.

The solution is to reduce green premiums, make net-zero technologies as affordable as the carbon-emitting versions available today, and create incentives for adoption. I recently wrote a white paper on the investments and policies we need to make as quickly as possible. Hope you check it out.

Read my white paper here.