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Science 13 August 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5686, pp. 968 - 972
DOI: 10.1126/science.1100103
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Review

Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies

S. Pacala1* and R. Socolow2*

Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical, and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problem for the next half-century. A portfolio of technologies now exists to meet the world's energy needs over the next 50 years and limit atmospheric CO2 to a trajectory that avoids a doubling of the preindustrial concentration. Every element in this portfolio has passed beyond the laboratory bench and demonstration project; many are already implemented somewhere at full industrial scale. Although no element is a credible candidate for doing the entire job (or even half the job) by itself, the portfolio as a whole is large enough that not every element has to be used.

1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
2 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pacala{at}princeton.edu (S.P.); socolow{at}princeton.edu (R.S.)

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