This paper discusses the economic impacts of climate change, including those on ecosystems, and whether a new backstop technology should be used under conditions of strict temperature targets. Using the dynamic integrated climate-economy (DICE) model, we developed a new model to calculate the optimal path by considering new backstop technologies, such as CO2 capture and storage (CCS). We identify the effects of parameter changes based on the resulting differences in CO2 leakage and sites, and we analyse the feasibility of CCS. In addition, we focus on ocean acidification and consider the impact on economic activity. As a result, when CCS is assumed to carry a risk of CO2 leakage and acidification is considered to result in a decrease in utility, we find that CCS can only delay the effects of climate change, but its use is necessary to achieve strict targets, such as a 1.5 °C limit. This observation suggests that if the target temperature is too tight, we might end up employing a technology that sacrifices the ecosystem too greatly.
Tamaki T., Nozawa W. & Managi S., 2017. Evaluation of the ocean ecosystem: Climate change modelling with backstop technologies. Applied Energy 205:428–439. Article (subscription required).
