Net Zero may be on life support in the US and Europe, but Southeast Asia doesn't appear to have got the note. Not, at least, if a new paper by leading scholars at the National University of Singapore published in a journal affiliated with the US National Academy of Sciences is any indication. Technically sophisticated, but based on economic modelling untethered from reality, it assumes what it should test, minimises costs without measuring them and ignores a host of political, institutional and technological obstacles.
The recently published paper 'Charting net-zero pathways for ASEAN's energy sector' in PNAS Nexus by research scholars at the Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore and ExxonMobil sets out to explore “pathways to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050” in Southeast Asia. Using a linear-programming model integrating electricity generation, regional power grids, carbon storage and hydrogen, the authors identify two stylised pathways: one dominated by wind, solar and battery storage, and another relying heavily on carbon capture and storage (CCS) alongside the use of so-called 'green' hydrogen. The paper concludes that regional grid connectivity can reduce storage and reserve needs, offering “clear insights” for policymakers as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations marches toward Net Zero.
The publication of such a paper, bearing the imprimatur of a journal affiliated with the US National Academy of Sciences, would have been unremarkable five years ago. Today, it borders on the surreal. Europe — the self-styled global leader of climate virtue — is quietly
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Singaporeans too smart to fall for this. Academia almost totally discredited – best ignored
Good piece by the author but I think you are right when talking about Singaporeans.
Not mentioned, but the fires erupting from these battery storage facilities which have been built for New York prove they are not only useless in capacity but have devastating fires on a fairly regular basis.
Well at least the UK and Germany will have company – and misery loves company.
They said the volcano God was angry, it needed appeasement, so we threw in a few virgins, but still the lava flowed burning up villages, not enough virgins they said, so we threw in more, it continued to roar and bluster, not the right kind of virgins they said, the virgins were too ugly, throw in some young men as well that should do it, finally, the volcano God ceased, leaving devastation and death, and just a wispy curl of smoke, they then demanded the first born child of every family be thrown into the Gods open mouth, lest he be angered, when the foreigners came, they laughed at us, they laughed at our God, they raped and killed, torching villages and destroying the Volcano Gods shrines, ‘bow to our God’ they said, he is the one true God, he will protect you, give up your false God, denounce your stupid ways…. Then the volcano erupted….. with intelligence comes ignorance, follow the climate god, don’t forget my virgins, oh and money, gods love money… lots and lots of money….
Good please accelerate the death process. The sooner the better. Go bankrupt, rip off your hydrocarbon produced clothing, leave your clean hydrocarbon world and run naked into the wildnerness and test your Darwinian ‘survival of the fittest’ policy and see how much Gaia and ‘the universe’ love you and care about you (you will be dead in no time). Population will be reduced. IQ’s raised. More opportunities for the rest of us.