Stern Words: Linking Climate Action to Growth

"These things are starting to look promising..."

(see slide 14 in the associated presentation below)

The Robb Lectures are considered a forefront forum whereby past speakers have included renowned physicists Richard Feynman and Hermann Bondi.

In 2010, British economist Lord Stern (Wikipedia, here) gave a series of three lectures on the "The challenges for global collaboration and rationality".

Lord Stern's second lecture "Policies for low-carbon growth and development: Creating a new era of progress and prosperity", explores the link between growth and economic theory in the context of effective Climate Action. Citing history's new ways replacing old ways, in this excerpt Stern concludes that substituting economic 'inputs' is valid for economic growth: "If electricity comes along, you dislocate candle-makers and whalers. This is part of the story."

Admitting "we're going to learn like mad along the way", Lord Stern picked four 'headline' examples...including solar cells and EMCs!

And in 2019, Lord Stern and Lord Turner's Energy Transitions Commission included a feature on EMC in its report "Mission Possible":

Mission Possible!

Headed by Lord Adair Turner and Lord Nicholas Stern, the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) aims, "to accelerate change towards low-carbon energy systems that enable robust economic development and limit the rise in global temperature to well below 2˚C and as close as possible to 1.5˚C."

This is what the ETC's 2019 report stated about us:

"Cement is one of the most complex industries to decarbonize, requiring carbon capture and/or an entirely new chemistry. High Volume Pozzolan Cement (HVPC) can be manufactured blending traditional Portland clinker with pozzolan. It could be one of the most promising alternatives to substitute for conventional Portland cement.

Energetically Modified Cement (EMC) Technology developed by EMC cement provides an equal or enhanced product that contains 50% fly ash and 50% ordinary Portland cement. Fly ash is usually sourced today from power and industrial plants that burn coal, but, as the economy decarbonizes, it could in the future be produced from pozzolan, a volcanic rock, which may be available across all continents.

This technology was first developed in 2005 and has since been demonstrated at commercial scale, through different projects and applications that include, for instance, both State and Federal highways in the US. These first projects have confirmed the competitive cost structure, technical performance and compliance with materials standards of this new chemistry. Pozzolan cement can provide up to 70% decrease in CO2 emissions vs. conventional concrete."

Mission Possible sectoral focus: cement (2019)

Energy Transitions Commission

We were not contacted at any stage during the making of this report, which is available here.

Stern Words: Linking Climate Action to Growth

"These things are starting to look promising..."

Mission Possible!

Simple Enough?

It's the cookie monster again!