ON THE ENERGY-ECONOMY LINK

Can we sever the link between energy and economic growth?

Brad Plumer, January 17, 2014 (Washington Post)

“Ever since the 1970s, the world appears to be using less and less energy to produce a given unit of economic activity…There's some debate among economists, however, as to whether it's actually possible to significantly reduce the amount of energy used per unit of economic activity…[W]hy does this debate matter? Well, it matters a lot for climate-change policy. The growth rate of heat-trapping carbon-dioxide emissions in the future will depend on three things: 1) The growth rate of the global economy, 2) the energy-intensity of the economy (i.e., how much energy we need to sustain a given level of economic activity), and 3) the carbon-intensity of our energy supply (basically, the cleanliness of the fuels we use)…Right now, BP is predicting that the world's biggest countries will…get more energy-efficient and use cleaner fuels…But, the report notes, this also won't be enough to curtail carbon-dioxide emissions…BP thinks we won't even get close…There are three broad ways to cut emissions…” click here for more

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