A new report by leading consulting firm McKinsey concludes the US could reduce up to 28 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions with only small technology innovations and at modest costs. Many of these "small step" reductions pay for themselves in lower energy bills, the report said, suggesting that people should take the reductions out of self interest, even if they are not driven by threats of climate change.
Rather than focus on sexy, big potential technology solutions, smaller steps could collectively produce significant and less risky returns. For example, modest changes in the lighting, heating and cooling of buildings would make a big difference collectively as well as make financial sense for the individual stakeholders.
The authors of the report didn't believe that these small step changes would be acheived without government and industry leadership and support. It suggested raising public awareness with a broad public education program around wasteful energy consumption, perhaps modeled on the Keep America Beautiful” campaign of the 1960s.
In contrast to these modest measures to improve energy efficiency, projects like capturing carbon dioxide from coal power plants and storing it would be costly relative to the gains. Similarly, renewable energy sources such as wind or solar would offer only modest reductions.
The report, authored by powerhouse consulting firm, McKinsey & Company was funded by a diverse group of stakeholders in the debate, including DTE Energy (the parent company of Detroit Edison), Environmental Defense, Honeywell, National Grid, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pacific Gas & Electric and Shell.
The McKinsey Study comes a week before the United Nations climate conference in Bali. The US Congress is also approaching a vote on proposals to limit emissions of greenhouse gases.
