Carbon emissions reduction – Page 2

October 20, 2021June 30, 2022

Could fusion arrive in time?

Fusions is the safe version of nuclear power, indeed it is what happens in the sun. Fision is much easier to get going – this is why it is able to operate in nuclear weapons.

We still aren’t at commercial point, but it suggests more and more clearly that this could power the human race in the future.

Fusion is the promise of limitless green energy in the near future. Cutting our electricity use, as well as making electricity in a greener way shouldnt stop, but it may arrive to help in the future.

October 18, 2021July 1, 2022

Is the UK in danger of setting lofty goals and never trying to meet them?

Over the last few years the UK has set itself some impressive goals. Unfortunately there is little joined up thinking about how to actually try to meet some of those goals in question.

Boris Johnson continues to put up impressive targets. At the Cop conference coming up the UK will be asked how it will deliver – this is now what the government has to focus on.

I would be embarrassed to chair a meeting with Boris Johnsons record on climate, but then it would seem that my capacity for embarrassment is higher than his.

October 17, 2021June 30, 2022

UK one of the most nature depleted countries; is that a surprise for anyone?

The UK is in the lowest 10% of countries in terms of wildlife depletion. It is also last amongst the G7 of developed nations. It is thought that we have about half of our biodiversity left (average world levels in 75%). More alarming, it is thought that long-term 90% is the lowest level biodiversity can reach safely and sustain itself long-term.

It should be noted, that this biodiversity loss in the UK is not a new thing. Indeed, the UK has survived in this state for quite some time.

There is currently a conference going on in Kumning China, which is trying to address this.

Addressing biodiversity loss alongside carbon reduction would be the most sensible. Halting the loss of carbon sinks, is also very good for the wide range of biodiversity that thrive in its ecosystems. Can we move to doing both in tandem?

October 1, 2021July 1, 2022

What should we do when our government makes a big show of new climate commitments which are actually recycled?

The British government is continually making good noises about cutting emissions.

At the beginning of June they announced half a billion pounds for a blue planet fund – but this was merely repurposed money, from the conservative manifesto in 2019. A total of £11.6 billion has been pledged to fight climate change by the British government in this term, which means that this pledge is nothing more than deciding where to spend the money.

Is £11.6 billion spent across a parliamentary term a good amount of money.

It is certainly a lot of money, however in 2020 the government spend over 900 billion pounds, meaning that this advertisement is roughly 0.2% of our spending each year for the next 5 years. This is not fighting for our lives and that of our children’s future. Indeed if we truly consider environmental change an existential threat to our current way of life if this is chump change.

The fact that new pledges the government make then come out.of this small amount should be an embarrassment. I suspect that it will be highlighted multiple times during the the climate conference being held later this year. I hope other countries point out the absurdity of this position.

We are an island country! We stand to have our country changed dramatically if the amount of sea level rise that is possible actually happens. The idea that we can’t even put 1% of our GDP towards fighting this is a problem and one which future generations would have a right to point to.

August 26, 2021June 30, 2022

How can an average UK household reduce their carbon footprint?

The average UK household has a footprint of around 20 tonnes. Now it is true, that this is well below USA emissions as that is for 4 people – so average emissions of around 5 tonnes per head.

However, with relatively small adjustments, this can be cut dramatically. 12.3% of emissions come from heating, and a further 10.4% comes from electricity.

Furthermore, a significant cut can be made through replacing beef mince with Turkey mince. This can reduce your food carbon footprint by as much as 50%, and given that most mince is eaten in dishes with other foods, it is often unnoticeable

May 18, 2020May 18, 2020

India’s carbon emissions are falling for the first time since 1982

India’s carbon emissions are lower than they have been at any time since 1982 two largely as a result of less oil and coal being burnt for transport and power generation.

March 2, 2020May 13, 2020

Uk has just signed you energy infrastructure with Africa and despite Boris Johnson’s promises where do you think the majority of it went

More than 90% of this 2 billion pounds energy infrastructure deal that the UK has done in Africa over the last week is in oil and gas extraction. Boris Johnson open the summit talking about how we breathe the same air and how the climate emergency means we must stop business as usual as carbon emissions heat the planet.

1.2 billion pounds of this will be spent on oil production in Kenya with the majority of the rest going to Tunisia Morocco and Nigeria fossil fuel projects. Just 8% or 161 million pounds went to to green projects being split between a new solar farm in Kenya and the solar powered irrigation pumps in Uganda.

We are supposed to be hosting un global climate summit in Glasgow this coming November. You would think that the government would therefore be working towards the cleanest deals possible. This is an embarrassment to the UK and I hope that come November that is clear.

March 2, 2020May 13, 2020

Guardian to ban fossil fuel advertising

Given the forward thinking of the Guardian on environmental issues, we would would be reasonable to suppose that they had put a ban on fossil fuel advertising in place a significant time ago.

However they have now put this ban in place. If bans on fossil fuel advertising are replicated in other parts of the economy this could possibly accelerates the end of fossil fuels anyway.

I suppose as the saying goes better late than never ( it’s alarming to say that about a newspaper that is leading the way but these moves should have occurred a decade ago as the science became clear)

February 29, 2020May 13, 2020

What should the government do about hybrid cars

I believe hybrids should be banned alongside pure petrol and diesel engine vehicles: they generally only have a range of 20 or 30 miles at most before you need petrol or diesel and as such even on a standard commute usually they cannot run purely on electricity. Furthermore unless the buyer is a person who for instance is elderly and only used it to go to the shop once a week this setup means the majority of the use will be in a fossil fuel mode. Hybrids are away for fossil fuel cars to make themselves look cleaner. However, this requires you to have a full working fossil fuel engine and a fully working electrical propulsion which means the vehicle is more complicated and more likely to break down as well as not doing either job particularly well.

At the moment the plan is to ban hybrid as well which is good. A hybrid that does not allow more than 90 % of travel miles to be done on electricity is not good enough.

However other countries are being more ambitious on when they banned the sale of new new fossil fuel cars, and it is being suggested actually bringing this date forward further 2030 would save UK consumers a considerable amount of money. One of the reason that government set targets so far in the future is so that all the Industries involved can be sure of where they stand, the UK may have been one of the first countries to say that they were going to ban fossil fuel cars but their date was so on an ambitious that one year later they are already moving it 5 years sooner still, and there is a potential to need to move it soon as still- which would suggest that the government has failed miserably to to give a clear framework for what is going to happen in the future.

February 1, 2020May 13, 2020

P&O have ordered two new ferries which reduce carbon emissions by 40% being partially battery-powered

While some short distance Ferries have have already gone battery-powered these were across short strips of water. The British channel is a slightly different magnitude of issue. Although the crossing is only 20-30 miles wide (at its shortest) this is still an order of magnitude larger than on pure battery powered craft that have been used in the past.