Fix The Climate: Cutting Black Carbon Emissions Perspective, Kandlikar et al

Perspective Paper

Dr. Milind Kandlikar, Conor C. O. Reynolds and Andrew P. Grieshop find that black carbon reductions – especially those related to contained combustion – provide a win-win opportunity with both health and climate benefits. They also find that there is also a compelling case for their inclusion in a climate emission reductions regime because of the potential to “buy” a delay in warming, as part of a climate mitigation strategy. They note that it is important, however, to recognize that black carbon reductions are not a substitute for reductions in emissions of CO2, but that the two approaches must be applied together. They assess benefit-cost ratios for five different options to reduce black carbon emissions, and find that indoor combustion sources of black carbon such as clean-burning household stoves using biomass or gaseous fossil fuels provide the greatest benefit per unit cost.