Electronics companies seeking to develop energy efficiency technologies and to commercialise ‘green’ energy sources such as photovoltaics have received a major boost from the latest Synthesis Report published by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
In its advice to government policy makers, the IPCC specifically identifies the need to commercialise solar energy by no later than 2030 – and preferably earlier – as part of any global programme to mitigate the impact of climate change.
The report also notes that government backed research, development and demonstration (RD&D) into technologies that help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will translate into domestic growth.
“Both bottom up and top down studies indicate that there is high agreement and much evidence of substantial economic potential for the mitigation of global GHG emissions over the coming decades that could offset the projected growth of global emissions or reduce emissions below current levels,” the IPCC says (its italics).
IPCC calls for more broad based action backed by public finances. This observation will play particularly well with electronics companies involved in energy efficiency because there has long been a feeling that they had been forced into a Cinderella role – and that high technology’s own image as a major contributor to environmental pollution has harmed its broader case.
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