The global financial crisis and the prospects for ‘Green Growth’ (Dieter Helm)

Dieter Helm / Policy Network Observatory / October 2012

Dieter Helm (Professor of Energy Policy, University of Oxford) warns we are headed for a world where carbon emissions reach 500 parts-per-million (ppm) and we fail to tackle climate change.

He proposes a rapid take up of natural gas (and not coal) in the short-term and development of a next generation of renewable energy in the long-term.

He argues green growth should be based on the EU shifting the “hundreds of billions being spent on current expensive renewables” to “future renewables and technologies” (e.g. next generation of solar, batteries, smart information systems and electric cars). This he says will lead to economic growth and tackle climate change.

The basis of his argument is that “none of the existing technologies are likely to meet the decarbonisation challenge” because “there “is not enough land and shallow water for wind or biofuels to make a difference”.

Helm also calls for a carbon tax – that would affect both carbon production and carbon consumption -to encourage decarbonisation in the EU. This carbon tax would address the fact that Europe has exported its energy intensive industries to emerging economies such as China meaning overall global emissions have not gone down sufficiently.

With regard to the EU flagship programme – the Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS) which was supposed to provide the basis for a world carbon trading scheme – Helm says carbon prices have been too low.

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This summary was prepared by Why Green Economy?. The views expressed have been paraphrased. See the original source for more information.