Many of us are becoming increasingly alarmed at the emerging climatic changes we are experiencing and our lack of progress in making the necessary transformations to mitigate the worst possible outcomes. In less than 200 years we have increased atmospheric carbon to levels not experienced in millions of years. Much smaller changes have resulted in the ebb and flow of ice ages. The kind of man-made change we have instigated now risks unimaginably damaging consequences to human-kind.
Change starts with science and knowledge. As the current Coronavirus outbreak tells us, when faced with such a short-term emergency, the Government will act in response to scientific advice. Climate change is a more pervasive and damaging disaster for human-kind, but over a longer time-scale. For this reason we must consider the following areas of de-carbonisation study to demonstrate more precisely the changes needed. These should be directed to demonstrate workable solutions that could be implemented given the necessary political direction:
1. A nation-wide analysis of agriculture and land use. A combination of less animal farming, more arable farming, farming methods, preservation of wild areas and peatlands, planting trees, other land-based means of direct carbon capture and the planting of wood-based biomass for energy production all form part of the agricultural and land-use transformation required. Some areas will be suited to tree-planting but not all. Other areas e.g. animal pasture-land could be converted to biomass production. An understanding of the optimum land-use change required for each part of the country is required from which policy can be developed to bring about the physical, social and economic changes necessary.
2. A detailed analysis of industrial practice is similarly required. As a very large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, industry must transform in a variety of ways from basic efficiency improvements, to use of alternative renewable heating and power gas/liquid fuels, coupled with carbon capture and storage and general electrification of processes. A detailed study of the variety of different industrial sectors is required with a decarbonised blue-print established for each one. Again this provides the back-bone to policy setting through incentives, economic levers and legislation/regulation.
3. Energy consumption for power and heat in both domestic and commercial building space is a further area where common practice has advanced very slowly. A transformation to electric heat pumps, use of alternative fuels in gas networks, building regulations for design and use of appliances and ‘smart’ technology to manage energy consumption all require evidence-based recommendations as to technology, relative cost and geographical coverage.
There are other areas to consider in the journey to a de-carbonised future, e.g. renewable energy production and transport but progress is better established in these.
Like dealing with Coronavirus, science will be able to inform the right policies to take to solve the problem of climate change if we let it. But we must urge educational leaders to direct their policies into decarbonisation as a top priority first, get them to develop the detailed advice, then tell Government and the rest of us to get on with it.