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In a new analysis done by Climate Action Tracker (CAT), they found that the US should shoot for reducing emissions by 57-63% and provide support for other countries in order to meet the Paris Agreements target to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030. This will be attempted in 3 major sectors, power generation, building, and transportation. The overarching targets for these sectors to reach the goal would be, make power generation and light duty passenger vehicles 95-100% emission free by 2030, and reduce the carbon footprint of the building sector by 50% by 2035.
This seems like pretty lofty goals and the biggest issue that I see is the Paris Climate Agreement has been open for signatures almost 5 years ago and so far even France, thats capital city is the namesake of this agreement has made no large strides in reducing their emissions nor have any of the other countries. The biggest reduction in emissions has come from the lockdowns and quarantines over the last year due to Covid-19 and not any meaningful policies or changes.
With that being said it is very clear why US auto manufacturers are pouring billions of dollars into research and development of new technologies to accomplish this goal. Many auto manufacturers like Volvo and General motors have set targets of 100% zero emissions new vehicle sales by 2030 or 2035. This is being pushed heavily by new federal fuel economy standards.
The timeline seems a little unreasonable for auto manufacturers that don’t use vertical integration in their supply chain and outsource almost everything to an uncountable number of different suppliers. The downfall of this method of supply chain management has never been more noticeable, as auto manufacturers are slowing or even cancelling production of vehicles due to parts shortages. The vast majority of these parts are electronic components and precious metals. It is estimated that the number of computer chips will more than double between gasoline powered vehicles and electric powered vehicles. Not only that, the other markets where these chip and electronic component manufacturers are able to sell their products is growing exponentially as demand for phones, computers, and other consumer electronics has skyrocketed. Giant auto manufacturers will be competing with other titans of industry for limited supply of product in the near future and completely reliant on third party companies to fill the holes in their supply chain.
As I believe that everyone should want to take better care of our planet I am hoping that all of the money and brain power being used can find solutions. It will be a daunting task and we will be following the progress closely.
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