For Immediate Release
Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Claims Diesel Soot Melting the Sierra Snow Pack
Reducing Diesel Soot is Faster And Cheaper Than Reducing CO2 in Effort to Slow Global Warming
Reducing Diesel Soot is Faster And Cheaper Than Reducing CO2 in Effort to Slow Global Warming
MENLO PARK, California (December 11, 2009) – In his new book, Addicted to Energy, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Elton Sherwin claims that reducing diesel soot is key to affordably protecting the planet from rapid warming.
Drawing on research from UC Berkeley, Stanford and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Sherwin says that reducing diesel soot is faster and cheaper than reducing CO2. “We still need to dramatically reduce CO2, but eliminating diesel soot is a quick, affordable way to lessen the likelihood of crossing a major climate threshold or tipping point.”
Some models show California’s central valley getting 10 degrees hotter this century. “We in California should be very motivated to get this right, to lead the world in developing strategies to reduce diesel soot. This is primarily a financing issue, not a technology issue. The technology exists to do this.”
In 2000, Stanford’s Mark Jacobson discovered that black carbon, the main component of soot particles, may be the second-leading cause of global warming. Subsequently, Stacy Jackson, in her work at U.C. Berkeley, has shown that over the next 20 years black carbon may have a greater impact on the world’s climate than CO2.
Veerabhadran Ramanathan, one of the world’s leading climate scientists at Scripps Institute for Oceanography in a recent article in Foreign Affairs, says that existing emissions-control technologies could “be enough to offset the warming effects of one to two decades’ worth of carbon dioxide emissions.”**
In his book, Sherwin suggests including diesel soot in California’s cap and trade system. “California’s oil companies paid to retrofit dry cleaners in southern California to offset their emissions. If diesel soot were included in a cap and trade system, California’s largest polluters would immediately buy soot filters for the trucking industry, because this is such an inexpensive way to reduce emissions.”
About Elton Sherwin:
Elton Sherwin is a venture capitalist and the Senior Managing Director at Ridgewood Capital, where he invests in private energy-tech and clean-tech companies. He holds eight patents and sits on the boards of several clean-tech companies. His widely acclaimed first book, The Silicon Valley Way, was translated into Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Korean. Published in 1998, it continues to be used by entrepreneurs and universities around the world.
About Addicted to Energy:
Addicted to Energy is written as a guidebook to a fictional governor, with advice on how to manage both the climate and energy crises. The book devotees thirty pages to California’s AB 32 legislation. The book contains many charts and graphs, as well as practical tips for homeowners, businesses, and local governments.
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Media contact:
Katharine Brewer
Energy House Publishing Group
KBrewer@EnergyHousePublishing.com
** “The Other Climate Changers: Why Black Carbon and Ozone Also Matter,” Jessica Seddon Wallack and Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2009 Issue.
For additional information on this topic, Google ‘black carbon sierra snow ,’ ‘black carbon climate change,’ ‘Mark Jacobson Stanford black carbon,’ ‘California Air Resources Board diesel soot,’ and ‘Scripps black carbon climate change.’
UC Berkley:
http://stacycjackson.com/images/Copenhagen_Conference_Handout_-_Mar_2009.pdf
Stanford:
http://news.stanford.edu/pr/01/soot214.html
http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/0710LetHouseBC%201.pdf
Scripps Institution of Oceanography:
http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/Releases/?releaseID=1013
http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/Releases/?releaseID=891
