The Best & Worst Green Innovations

The 10 ideas that might just save the planet... and those which are dead-ends or roadblocks

10 best ideas

1 Plug-in  hybrid cars 
A better bet than small internal combustion engines, these ‘next generation’ hybrids have batteries that can be plugged into an electric source and both an electric motor and a backup internal combustion engine – not to mention that the cost to power a vehicle with electricity is estimated at one-quarter that of petrol.

2 Geothermal heating 
All the rage in suburban Stockholm and spreading, partly thanks to TV design shows.

3 Carbon  trading 
Stringent cap-and-trade of carbon rights, with all industries participating, to include all buildings (since buildings account for a large share of carbon emissions), and with forestry and land use included for the first time.

4 Emissions  reduction 
Sectoral approaches in the developing  world – emissions-reductions pacts made by industries like iron, steel and cement, which spew roughly 35% of developing country emissions

5 Wind power 
Offshore wind power – costs are dropping 20% with each doubling of capacity.

6 Solar  power 
Concentrating solar power – using dishes or reflective glass curved mirrors, CSP is a large-scale way to generate power equivalent to a wind farm, as opposed to the small-scale production of solar panels.

7 Electric  cars 
With green electricity to power them, and assuming that new sources of lithium are discovered for the batteries,  which may not  be the case.

8 Second-gen biofuels 
While commercial development is a ways off, two large-scale pilot plants are underway in Canada and Germany. These new biofuels may some day be possible thanks to recent leaps in supply chain efficiency and in production of non-edible plant sources, such as stalks from wheat and other cereal plants.

9 Successor to the Kyoto Protocol
A global agreement on climate change that starts with cap and trade systems, with no industry or continent left out, with developing countries putting in place policies to reduce emissions domestically and forestry and land use included for the first time.

10 Light bulbs 
Phase out incandescent light bulbs – a low-energy light bulb uses one-fifth the energy and produces one-fifth the greenhouse emissions of an incandescent bulb.

10 worst ideas

1 Biofuel
Without realising the consequence on the world’s food supply or the amount of fossil fuel energy (oil based-fertilisers, for example) needed to produce it.

2 Dash  for gas 
Years of overinvestment in gas-fired power plants all over the world were made because gas produces one-third the carbon dioxide emissions of coal. As for oil, heavy reliance on gas increases dependence, on foreign and unstable sources of supply. 

3 Hydrogen economy  
Much hyped a couple of years ago. Great in theory, but years if not decades away from practice.

4 Clean  coal 
Because it’s essentially a myth. There may be as many greenhouse gases produced by new coal-fired plants as the old ones. Clean coal will only become a reality when carbon capture and storage technology becomes feasible.

5 The Saviour  approach 
Picking a single technology that hoovers up too much of the available investment, draining capital from other promising alternatives. Any and all options must be explored given the limited time left to make a difference.

6 Auto bailout 
Bailing out the US auto industry, if accomplished without attaching truly stringent conditions for producing more fuel-efficient vehicles and electric or hybrid cars.

7 US bank  bailouts 
Federal bailouts of US financial institutions,  if made without requiring mortgage holders to upgrade the energy efficiency standards of buildings in their portfolio. 

8 Green protectionism 
Such as the US slapping a high tariff on imports of sugar cane-based ethanol from Brazil to protect the building-up of the corn ethanol industry in the US. This logic flies in the face of global trade theory, since it is much more efficient to produce and ship ethanol made from sugar cane than from corn. What is more, coddling an industry group like US corn farmers, like subsidising agriculture, means markets in emerging countries don’t get much of a chance to develop.

9 Biodiesel  in Europe 
From rapeseed or sunflowers, with many of the same consequences as for corn ethanol, including diverting too much money away from other potential  new fuels.

10 Slashing  investment  
Extremely short-sighted given the urgency of climate  change and its ability to rejuvenate the economy.