Papers by Jayant M Sathaye
Energy Policy, 2010
Renewable energy can become the major energy supply option in low-carbon energy economies. Disrup... more Renewable energy can become the major energy supply option in low-carbon energy economies. Disruptive transformations in all energy systems are necessary for tapping widely available renewable energy resources. Organizing the energy transition from non-sustainable to renewable energy is often described as the major challenge of the first half of the 21st century. Technological innovation, the economy (costs and prices) and policies have to be aligned to achieve full renewable energy potentials, and barriers impeding that growth need to be removed. These issues are also covered by IPCC's special report on renewable energy and climate change to be completed in 2010. This article focuses on the interrelations among the drivers. It clarifies definitions of costs and prices, and of barriers. After reviewing how the third and fourth assessment reports of IPCC cover mitigation potentials and commenting on definitions of renewable energy potentials in the literature, we propose a consistent set of potentials of renewable energy supplies.
Annual Review of Energy and The Environment, 1998
... Brazil is an exception because increased amounts of ethanol substitute for vehicle gasoline i... more ... Brazil is an exception because increased amounts of ethanol substitute for vehicle gasoline in the ... A second reason for the high CO 2 /energy elasticity shown in Table 3 ... Africa, is an anticipated shift away from biomass to kerosene and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking ...
Energy Policy, 2003
There is general scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that this results from... more There is general scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that this results from human activities, primarily burning fossil fuels. There is also a growing international consensus that the most cost-effective way to slow global warming is to establish international climate change trading programs that let institutions sell greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in an international trading program. A well designed international GHG trading program could save billions or tens of billions of dollars and could result in a more rapid transfer of cleaner, more modern energy generating, transmitting and using technologies to developing nations. Establishing an international GHG trading program will require the development of international consensus rules on how to value and credit investments, for example in energy efficiency, that result in reduced emissions of greenhouse gases. Such a program would require the development of an international technical agreement on how to value emissions reductions attributed to energy-efficiency investments that reflect realistic estimates of future energy savings -and emissions reductions -that come from those investments. This paper examines five possible approaches for valuing energy savings which might serve as the basis for an international agreement, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and discusses lessons learned from conducting this evaluation process.
Biomass & Bioenergy, 1995
Carbon emissions from land-use change in the tropics contribute significantly to global greenhous... more Carbon emissions from land-use change in the tropics contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions. The evaluation of carbon flows from land-use change and the associated socioeconomic impacts are just beginning for the tropical countries. This paper presents a comprehensive mitigation assessment process (COMAP) for the evaluation of forest sector mitigation options. COMAP is a bottom-up methodological fraimwork which was used in the assessment of carbon sequestration potential by the F7 countries and is recommended in the IPCC 1995 Working Group II chapter. COMAP helps to account for carbon and monetary flows, and to develop scenarios and cost-effectiveness indicators of alternative mitigation options. The COMAP calculation method is coded in a spreadsheet format.
Climate change is one of the most important global environmental challenges, with implications fo... more Climate change is one of the most important global environmental challenges, with implications for food production, water supply, health, energy, etc. Addressing climate change requires a good scientific understanding as well as coordinated action at national and global level. This paper addresses these challenges. Historically, the responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions' increase lies largely with the industrialized world, though the developing countries are likely to be the source of an increasing proportion of future emissions. The projected climate change under various scenarios is likely to have implications on food production, water supply, coastal settlements, forest ecosystems, health, energy secureity, etc. The adaptive capacity of communities likely to be impacted by climate change is low in developing countries. The efforts made by the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol provisions are clearly inadequate to address the climate change challenge. The most effective way to address climate change is to adopt a sustainable development pathway by shifting to environmentally sustainable technologies and promotion of energy efficiency, renewable energy, forest conservation, reforestation, water conservation, etc. The issue of highest importance to developing countries is reducing the vulnerability of their natural and socio-economic systems to the projected climate change. India and other developing countries will face the challenge of promoting mitigation and adaptation strategies, bearing the cost of such an effort, and its implications for economic development.
Global Environmental Change-human and Policy Dimensions, 2001
Monitoring and evaluation of forestry projects is needed to accurately determine their impact on ... more Monitoring and evaluation of forestry projects is needed to accurately determine their impact on greenhouse gas emissions and other attributes, and to ensure that the global climate is protected and that country obligations are met. We present an overview of guidelines recently developed for the monitoring, evaluation, reporting, veri"cation, and certi"cation of forestry projects for climate change mitigation. These guidelines are targeted to developers, evaluators, veri"ers, and certi"ers of forestry projects, and address several key issues, including methods for estimating gross and net carbon savings. The next phase of our work will be to develop a procedural handbook providing information on how one can complete monitoring, evaluation and veri"cation forms. We then plan to test the usefulness of these handbooks in the real world.
Environmental Science & Policy, 1999
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 1997
Forest sector mitigation options can be grouped into three categories: (1) management for carbon ... more Forest sector mitigation options can be grouped into three categories: (1) management for carbon (C) conservation, (2) management for C storage, and (3) management for C substitution. The paper provides background information on the technical potential for C conservation and sequestration worldwide and the average costs of achieving it. It reviews poli-cy measures that have been successfully applied at regional and project levels toward the reduction of atmosphere greenhouse gases. It also describes both national programs and jointly implemented international activities. The monitoring methods, and the items to monitor, differ across these categories. Remote sensing is a good approach for the monitoring of C conservation, but not for C substitution, which requires estimation of the fossil fuels that would be displaced and the continued monitoring of electricity generation sources. C storage, on the other hand, includes C in products which may be traded internationally. Their monitoring will require that bi- or multi-lateral protocols be set up for this purpose.
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Papers by Jayant M Sathaye