With the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in November 2024, Kai A. Konrad gave a plenary lecture on 'How to avoid the rush to burn' at the 38th Annual Meeting of the International Conference of Public Finance on 17 October.
Kai A. Konrad presented the results of his joint research with Kjell Erik Lommerud, published in Energy Policy under the title 'Effective Climate Policy Needs Non-combustion Uses for Hydrocarbons', to around 100 guests. He argued that in the event of a global climate agreement, countries with large oil and gas reserves would have massive incentives to sell off their gas and oil reserves quickly, resulting in low gas and oil prices and correspondingly high emissions. The international community has recognised this problem but has not yet responded to the challenge. Konrad, together with Lommerud (University of Bergen), has researched this issue and developed a proposal for a solution. Their central message is that future climate-neutral uses of gas and oil can allay the fears of countries with large gas and oil reserves that their raw materials could become worthless in a few years' time. The researchers also give examples of what these technologies could be. The proposed solution is to develop a market for oil and gas as raw materials for climate-neutral products, rather than accelerating the 'rush to burn' with subsidies for the development of processes to replace oil and gas with 'sustainable' raw materials.
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Effective climate policy needs non-combustion uses for hydrocarbons - ScienceDirect
October 2024