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Crocs pushes net-zero target back from 2030 to 2040

Posted on May 5, 2023May 5, 2023 by dishanth

Crocs, which is based in the US and sells shoes globally, posted the updated climate in its latest environmental, social and governance (ESG) report late last week.

The report states that Crocs’ initial commitment to net-zero across by 2030, made in 2021, was “neither fast nor vast enough”.

Nonetheless, it has amended the commitment to net-zero across all emissions scopes by 2040. The report states that, when the initial 2030 goal was announced, Crocs had not completed its acquisition of HEYDUDE nor had it completed a comprehensive baseline of its greenhouse gas emissions.

The acquisition pushed Crocs’ baseline emissions up and the baselining activity revealed a higher-than-expected starting level of emissions.

Crocs estimated its value chain emissions in 2021 at 538,037 tonnes of CO2e. The estimate for 2022 is 45.5% higher at 782,774 tonnes of CO2e. At least 193,000 tonnes of these 2022 emissions are attributable to the HEYDUDE acquisition.

Crocs’ report states that the new 2040 goal is “still ambitious” but “more credible and realistic”.

A commitment to halve the carbon footprint of each pair of Crocs Classic Clogs between 2021 and 2030 has been retained, and extended to the HEYDUDE ‘Wendy’ and ‘Wally’ models. Increasing the share of bio-based content within shoes to 50% by 2030 will play a key role in reducing associated carbon. At present, the proportion is just 2.2%. An interim target has been set to reach 20% by the end of 2023.

Some commentators have questioned whether this approach is enough, and whether the brand should, instead, be looking at selling fewer pairs of shoes that last for longer. Crocs solar some 115.6 million pairs of shoes in 2022, up from 103 million in 2021.

Circular economy thought-leader Paul Foulkes-Arellano wrote on LinkedIn of a “lack of genuine commitment” from the footwear sector on climate and circularity, followed by “backtracking”.

Source edie

EU Parliament confirms 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars

Posted on February 20, 2023 by dishanth

The law, which requires that manufacturers achieve a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars sold in the EU by 2035, received 340 votes for, 279 against and 21 abstentions.

It sets an intermediate target of a 55% reduction in CO2 emissions for cars compared with 2021 levels and a 50% reduction for vans by 2030.

Low-volume manufacturers – those producing 1000 to 10,000 new cars or 1000 to 22,000 new vans per year – may be given an exemption from the rules until the end of 2035.

Those registering fewer than 1000 new vehicles annually will continue to be exempt thereafter.

By 2025, the European Commission will present methodology for assesssing and reporting the lifetime CO2 emissions of new cars and vans. Every subsequent two years, it will publish a report to evaluate the EU’s progress towards zero-emissions road mobility.

Then, by December 2026, it will monitor the gap between the legally determined emissions limits and real-world fuel and energy consumption data; and draw up methodology for adjusting manufacturers’ specific CO2 emissions.

Existing incentives for manufacturers selling more zero- and low-emissions vehicles (0-50g/km of CO2) will be adapted in line with sales trends, said the EU Parliament in a statement. These are expected to fall as uptake of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles increases.

The legislation was agreed in October 2022 and will now be sent to the Council of the European Union for formal approval. This will take place in the coming weeks.

Jan Huitema, the EU Parliament’s lead negotiator for the law, said: “This regulation encourages the production of zero- and low-emission vehicles. It contains an ambitious revision of the targets for 2030 and a zero-emission target for 2035, which is crucial to reach climate-neutrality by 2050.

“These targets create clarity for the car industry and stimulate innovation and investments for car manufacturers.

“Purchasing and driving zero-emission cars will become cheaper for consumers and a second-hand market will emerge more quickly. It makes sustainable driving accessible to everyone.”

Numerous manufacturers have existing electrification targets that put them on pace to comply with the new legislation.

French brands Renault and Peugeot also aim to go all-electric in Europe by 2030, while Volkswagen aims to reduce its carbon emissions per vehicle by 40% compared with 2018 levels by 2030.

Premium makers have also made headway on electrification: 41% of Volvo’s 615,121 new car sales in 2022 were plug-in hybrid (23%) and electric (18%), while Mini’s best-selling model was the Mini Electric.

Other manufacturers, such as Dacia, have plotted a different course: the Renault-owned company plans to meet CO2 targets by building lightweight, fuel-efficient ICE cars, critical to maintaining the brand’s price advantage.

Nonetheless, its sole electric car, the Dacia Spring, was one of Europe’s best-selling EVs in 2022, beating the likes of the Cupra Born, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Polestar 2.

Source Autocar

Jaguar Land Rover: Tackling sustainability in supply chain

Posted on October 4, 2022October 17, 2022 by dishanth

Jaguar Land Rover has invited its suppliers to align to its sustainability commitments, of reducing greenhouse gas emissions across its operations
Achieving net zero across the entire value chain is becoming more important to global organisations as they are all trying to help in the fight against climate change.

Jaguar Land Rover has explained how its commitments can only be achieved by working closely with suppliers who share the same vision for change. Therefore the company has invited its global Tier 1 supplier network – products, services and logistics – to align with its 2030 goals, while maintaining the same quality.

“Fulfilling our SBTi commitments and achieving carbon net zero emissions across our entire supply chain by 2039 are the driving forces in Jaguar Land Rover’s industrial strategy. We can only meet these ambitious targets together, which is why we’re inviting suppliers to join us on this challenging but exciting journey, strengthening existing relationships to enable all parties to achieve significant, quantifiable goals,” said Barbara Bergmeier, Executive Director of Industrial Operations, Jaguar Land Rover.

Reducing the global impact of the automotive industry

Earlier this year, Jaguar Land Rover committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions across its operations by 46% by 2030. In addition, the company will cut average vehicle emissions across its value chains by 54%, including a 60% reduction throughout the use phase of its vehicles.

The goals, which are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), confirm the company’s pathway to a 1.5°C emissions reduction in line with the Paris Agreement.

As explained in the new announcement, the company will ask Tier 1 suppliers to set their decarbonisation pathway, report transparently and demonstrate progress towards their targets. This would involve disclosing their carbon reporting and collaborating with their own supply chain to deliver the same reductions. This requirement has been shared with Jaguar Land Rover’s supply network, totalling more than 5,000 companies around the globe.

Wilhelm Steger, CEO of the ZKW Group, which supplies premium lighting systems to Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Our vision is pioneering, premium lighting and electronic systems for all mobility concepts in the global automotive industry. Together with Jaguar Land Rover, ZKW is taking the journey towards a more sustainable future. We are committed to protecting the environment and reducing environmental impact. As a consequence, we are taking responsibility, we are developing towards the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) within our business and converting our production sites to CO2-neutral by the end of 2025.”

Source Sustainability

Converting captured carbon into rock really is that easy

Posted on October 4, 2022October 17, 2022 by dishanth

Capturing carbon from the atmosphere is quickly becoming a popular venture. The sector skyrocketed in 2022 as the top emerging segment of climate tech funding, and the Inflation Reduction Act passed earlier this year increased the financial compensation for every ton of carbon captured in the U.S. But Icelandic company Carbfix has been capturing and storing carbon in rocks for over a decade.

Edda Sif Pind Aradóttir, Carbfix’s CEO, has been with Carbfix since its inception in 2007. Beginning as a PhD student working on the R&D of the relationship between CO2, hydrology and geology beneath the earth, Aradóttir worked her way up after earning her doctorate, first to project manager, and then eventually to CEO of the innovative company paving the way for a new frontier of carbon capturing.

Carbfix specifically dissolves CO2 into sparkling water and injects the mixture into a carefully chosen subsurface, or the layer beneath the earth’s surface. Once among the subterranean rock (most commonly basalt) a naturally occurring phenomenon takes over and solidifies the combination into solid carbonate minerals. While other types of rock can also host this process, basalt is one of the most common rock types on Earth, according to Aradóttir, making the adoption of the technology more feasible across the globe.

Currently, Aradóttir told GreenBiz, “point sourcing, or capture and storage at the same location, is always going to be the most cost effective. But when that’s not possible, [Carbfix] can add the transport link, whether that means pipes, trains, trucks or ships.”

But once it arrives at Carbfix’s facilities, it requires storage until it can be sequestered into the rock. Aradóttir explains that temporary CO2 storage infrastructure is the next project the company is undertaking.

The European Union recently pledged significant financial support to Carbfix to “build the first of a kind of such [a storage facility] in Iceland.” Carbfix expects to break ground in the upcoming months.

Image courtesy of Green by Iceland, photographer Gunnar Freyr Gunnarsson

Speaking to GreenBiz at the recent US-Iceland Energy Summit hosted in Washington, D.C., Aradóttir shared an upcoming local project. According to the CEO, the U.S. Department of Energy is funding Carbfix’s research in Minnesota, with the ultimate purpose of the R&D to determine whether local rock formations could one day host injected CO2.

In addition to the Minnesota project, Carbfix is simultaneously scoping the U.S. geology for other sites amenable for future CO2 injection and storage. While all U.S.-based projects are in the infancy of the R&D phase, Aradóttir confirmed that substantial local job creation is to be expected. For example, she estimates 600 new jobs at the upcoming storage facility about to break ground in Iceland. For the U.S., a country whose transition to 100 percent renewable energy depends upon steady job creation to compensate for the fossil fuel-based jobs lost, this is only good news.

Aradóttir passionately advocated for an expedited adoption of climate change mitigating measures.

“We have the technologies and we know what to do, but we’re still not really doing it at the pace needed,” she said. “I don’t think this gets the attention it should get.” Aradóttir acknowledged that “doom and gloom” is not an effective communication strategy to spur action. Optimism is needed to encourage hope and drive motivation. But still she knows it’s hard when, “year after year after year, we don’t deliver, but it’s something we absolutely can do.”

Carbfix is taking that mantra to heart. Currently, the company has injected 83,957 metric tons of CO2, or the equivalent of 208 million miles driven by an average combustion vehicle, into the earth since 2014, and it’s taking that technology on an international tour. Currently, Carbfix has 14 ongoing projects within Iceland and around the world, including Germany, Turkey and Italy. And its website features an atlas of all of the potential geological sites where subsurface CO2 injection and storage should be compatible. Time will tell if Carbfix can get buy-in to take advantage of these sites.

Source GreenBiz

World’s biggest carbon capture plant set for Wyoming

Posted on September 22, 2022 by dishanth

The US state of Wyoming is set to welcome the world’s largest direct air capture plant for the removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Called Project Bison, the facility is slated to swing into action next year and, all going to plan, will scale up its operations by the end of the decade to suck up five million tons of CO2 each year, and safely lock it away underground.

Project Bison enters the fray as the first massively scalable direct air capture plant in the US, according to the company behind the technology, Carbon Capture. The LA-based outfit has teamed up with Dallas-based company Frontier Carbon Solutions on the venture, which will lock the captured carbon away underground to prevent it from re-entering the atmosphere.

Carbon capture activity is expected to kick off at Project Bison in 2023

For its part, Carbon Capture describes its system as “deeply modular.” The reactors slot into shipping-container-sized modules that can be stacked into tiers. This enables upgrades to individual reactors, for example, or for different types of plug-and-play sorbent cartridges to be slotted in to suit different climates or seasons. These modules can be grouped together in clusters to share resources like power and heat, with those clusters then able to be scaled up to form gigantic arrays.

Wyoming was chosen as the site for Project Bison owing to its ready access to renewable energy sources and friendly regulatory conditions for carbon storage. Pending approvals, it will be the first direct air capture plant to use Class IV wells for carbon sequestration, injecting it into deep saline aquifers. Phase 1 carbon capture operations are expected to begin next year, removing around 10,000 tons annually.

Carbon Capture says there are no practical limits when it comes to scaling up the project, however, and plans to do just that to remove 200,000 tons a year by 2026, one megaton a year by 2028 and then five megatons a year by 2030. At this point, it expects Project Bison to be the largest single atmospheric carbon removal project in the world.

When that time comes, it may have some competition, however. Aside from Clime works’ efforts in this area, we’ve seen London startup Brilliant Planet outline plans to offer gigaton-scale carbon capture using algae, and Australian startup Southern Green Gas’s vision of capturing billions of tons each year. The US government is also investing billions of dollars into carbon capture, with the aim of developing regional hubs that can help drive down the considerable cost of the technology.

This is no small sticking point when it comes to making carbon capture a viable weapon in the fight against climate change, considering the size of the problem. Clime works’ first plant captured carbon at around US$600 a ton, but it aims to do so at around $100 a ton as it scales up, while others are aiming even lower.

Carbon Capture will be betting big on the effects of the Biden government’s recently passed Inflation Reduction Act to make its carbon capture commercially viable. The act sees tax credits for carbon capture plants increase from $50 per ton to as much as $180 if the carbon is stored underground, and is designed to accelerate innovations in the carbon removal sector.

“With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the proliferation of companies seeking high-quality carbon removal credits, and a disruptive low-cost technology, we now have the ingredients needed to scale DAC (direct air capture) to megaton levels by the end of this decade,” said Adrian Corless, CEO and CTO, Carbon Capture Inc. “We plan to have our first DAC modules fielded by the end of next year and to continue installing capacity as quickly as modules come off our production line. Our goal is to leverage economies of scale to offer the lowest priced DAC-based carbon removal credits in the market.”

Source New Atlas

Artificial Photosynthesis can produce food in absence of sunlight: Study

Posted on September 15, 2022September 15, 2022 by dishanth

Experiments revealed that a diverse range of food-producing organisms, including green algae, yeast, and fungal mycelium that produces mushrooms, can be grown in the dark directly on the acetate-rich electrolyzer output. This technology is approximately four times more energy efficient than growing algae photosynthetically.

According to a study conducted by the University of California, scientists have discovered a way to create food that is not dependent on sunlight by using artificial photosynthesis. A two-step electrocatalytic process converts carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate.

In order to grow, food-producing organisms consume acetate in the dark. The hybrid organic-inorganic system has the potential to increase the efficiency of sunlight conversion into food by up to 18 times for some foods.

For millions of years, plants have evolved photosynthesis to convert water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight energy into plant biomass and the foods we eat. However, this process is inefficient, with only about 1% of the energy found in sunlight reaching the plant. Scientists at UC Riverside and the University of Delaware have discovered a way to create food without the need for biological photosynthesis by using artificial photosynthesis.

The study, which was published in the journal Nature Food, employs a two-step electrocatalytic process to convert carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate, the main component of vinegar. In order to grow, food-producing organisms consume acetate in the dark. This hybrid organic-inorganic system, when combined with solar panels to generate the electricity to power the electrocatalysis, could increase the conversion efficiency of sunlight into food by up to 18 times for some foods.

“We sought to identify a new way of producing food that could break through the limits normally imposed by biological photosynthesis,” said corresponding author Robert Jinkerson, an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at UC Riverside.

The output of the electrolyzer was optimized to support the growth of food-producing organisms in order to integrate all of the system’s components. Electrolyzers are electrical devices that convert raw materials such as carbon dioxide into useful molecules and products. The amount of acetate produced was increased while the amount of salt used was decreased, resulting in the most acetate ever produced in an electrolyzer to date.

“We were able to achieve a high selectivity towards acetate that cannot be accessed through conventional CO2 electrolysis routes using a state-of-the-art two-step tandem CO2 electrolysis setup developed in our laboratory,” said corresponding author Feng Jiao of the University of Delaware.

“We were able to grow food-producing organisms in the absence of biological photosynthesis. These organisms are typically grown on sugars derived from plants or inputs derived from petroleum – a product of biological photosynthesis that occurred millions of years ago. This technology is a more efficient way of converting solar energy into food than biological photosynthesis,” said Elizabeth Hann, a doctoral candidate in the Jinkerson Lab and co-lead author of the study.

Source Krishi Jagran

Energy Dome launches world’s first CO2 battery for long-duration storage of wind and solar power

Posted on June 13, 2022 by dishanth

Though ridding the atmosphere of carbon dioxide is one of the main battles in the fight against climate change, one Italian start-up has found a way to turn CO₂ into a weapon against global warming.

On Wednesday, Energy Dome launched its first CO₂ battery facility in Sardinia and entered the commercial scaling phase.

The company has been developing an emission-free storage method that stores power generated from the sun and wind. CO₂ plays a useful role in the process as it has properties that can help to store electricity from renewable energy sources when it is converted from gas to liquid.

The storage technology could prove to be a game changer in the way solar and wind power are used, as they are variable energies that are only generated when there is sunshine or wind.

“The issue with renewable energy is that those sources of energy are very clean, but they are also intermittent and cannot be dispatched,” Energy Dome founder and CEO Claudio Spadacini told Euronews Next.

“The missing technology to make renewable energy dispatchable 24/7 is a technology which is able to store solar when the sun shines and when the wind blows and can deliver (energy) back to the grid when the sun doesn’t shine”.

How does it work?

This method, which has never been used before, stores energy using pressure and heat.

The process begins by storing CO₂ gas, secured from commercial vendors, in a big sealed dome. When energy is fed into the system, it pushes the gas through a compressor to condense it into liquid, while the heat from this compression is captured and stored to be used again later.

When it is time to discharge the energy, the heat that was stored is used to evaporate the liquid CO₂ again, and its expansion – as it turns into gas and returns to the dome – drives a turbine that generates energy.

Though it sounds complicated, the method only requires steel, CO₂ and water, and the closed-loop system generates no emissions.

“Ironically, we use CO₂ to make our system work. It is just the fuel which we use to make our technology work,” Spadacini said, adding that it’s only needed to kick-start the system, which is designed to last around 30 years.

“Our system is fully closed, we have no emissions in the atmosphere. It’s just a black box which is able to charge with the surplus electricity when there is an abundance [of it]”.

To generate and dispatch electricity in times of demand, the same liquid CO₂ is heated up and converted back into a gas that powers a turbine, which generates power in a closed thermodynamic system.

“The CO₂ battery is fully sustainable and fully recyclable,” Spadacini said.

“We just use steel to produce the CO₂ battery and we use water only once to fill our water tank. We do not use water during the operation of the CO₂ battery and we just use a small amount of CO₂ to charge the battery at the beginning without any consumption of CO₂ during the operation”.

No rare minerals required

The other advantage of this technology is that it does not rely on lithium-ion batteries, which are often used for energy storage. The process also does not use any rare earth minerals such as cobalt.

“To be independent of minerals and rare material is a big advantage also from the point of view of energy security, but also in terms of geopolitical stability,” said Spadacini.

“Ironically, we use CO₂ to make our system work,” said Energy Dome’s CEO.Mignogna Andrea/Mignogna Andrea, Energy Dome

The founder said Energy Dome’s first full-scale storage plants should cost just under $200 (€180) per kilowatt-hour, which is also about half the price of a lithium-ion energy storage system.

The island of Sardinia is the perfect home for the 20MW-200MWh plant with an abundance of sunshine and wind. The facility also juxtaposes two coal-fired power plants on the island, which are being phased out.

“The demonstration of solar power storage in a sustainable way in that place can [allow] Sardinia to be the first fully green island in Europe,” said Spadacini.

The company is now getting ready to deploy its first full-scale plant by the end of next year.

Source Euro News

17 things you can change to reduce your impact on the environment while overlanding

Posted on May 27, 2021 by dishanth

Overlanders are usually use large vehicles, with either gas or diesel engines with low mpg’s.

While using hybrids or even electric vehicles for overlanding is still in the distant future (and those types of vehicles may not even be desired by the overlanding community), there are still several things that overlanders can do to decrease their impact on the environment.

— Please Click Here For The Infographic —

Travelers should preserve nature in a way for their children and grandchildren to enjoy as well.

While it is a fun, family activity, camping and overlanding have both positive and negative effects on the environment.

Camping is great for socialization since often there’s no technology around, and you have more interaction and communication with family and friends.

It also improves your mood and reduces stress. On the negative side, people may end up making campfires which can release toxic gases into the air and are harmful.

These toxic gases contain carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, which both heavily pollute the air.

Ultimately, if the fire is not placed in an appropriate spot, it can often kill wildlife and even plant life in the area that you are camping in.

We’re not against campfires, we love them! But with moderation and with precautions.

Also, some people fall into the habit of leaving garbage and waste behind after their camping trips. This leftover trash can harm the animals because they may end up eating the garbage and choking on whatever waste is left behind, to only mention one of the downsides of such recklessness.

Ultimately what people need to remember is that how they live, shop and camp have an effect on the places that they journey actually to experience.

However, it’s never too late to start making positive choices such as using less water, pollutants, plastic, and fuel as well.

At the end of the day by creating an eco-friendly footprint, you’ll not only protect the wildlife and environment, but you’ll also save money in the interim.

During our travels, luckily literally no campers or overlanders we ever met were inconsiderate. Quite the opposite!

There seems to be a great trend among overlanders to really look after the environment, and many follow the awesome principle of “leave the campground cleaner than you found it“.

So let’s see, as overlanders and campers, what can we do for the environment. Here are thirteen habits that you may adopt in order to improve your stamp on the world.

Don’t Use Plastic Bags

The best way to protect the environment is to stop using plastic bags. By refusing to use plastic bags like the ones you buy at checkouts, you’re taking the first step in making an eco-friendly footprint on your local environment.

The next step, however, is to choose plastic-free food and groceries. Always opt for items packaged in recyclable cardboard cartons, tins, bottles, and boxes as these are more environmentally friendly than plastic.

Furthermore, plastic is hard to recycle, and it is never really biodegradable.

You may also choose to switch to bleach-free paper products when it comes to household items. These are supplies such as paper towels and toilet rolls and pack your fruit and vegetables in drawstring bags made from mesh as opposed to plastic packets.

Always Recycle

It’s not always easy to find recycling bins in remote places; however, it’s not impossible either.

If you simply keep the good housekeeping habits that you exercise at home when you are camping, you’ll do your share to limit waste and your footprint on the environment.

So basically staying committed to recycling means that you have to keep your glass bottles, tins, cardboard and newspapers, and jars in your own bags until you reach town or home.

Ultimately, this is the best thing that you can do as a traveler and it also it forces you to account just how much waste you are responsible for on a daily or weekly basis.

Before making your way to your camping destination, remove and recycle as much packaging from your groceries as you possibly can.

So if space is limited and you are camping in a remote site, consider switching to aluminum, crushable beer cans, and compact wine casks as opposed to space-hogging glass bottles.

Another environmental nightmare is dead batteries dumped on the roadside. While it’s all too tempting to simply throw them on the side of the road and drive away, you should think twice about this.

Avoid Single-Use Products

USB rechargeable gadgets, kinetic watches, and solar torches are all cutting-edge and mobile camping products that have been making disposable batteries a thing of the past.

However, everyone just needs to learn how to start using them.

This is the year to stop investing in single-use batteries and other once off only throwaway containers, especially the little butane stove canisters that seem to be very convenient.

We’re guilty of that too! It’s a habit we’re changing right now!

A good example where most people don’t realize the large amount of single plastic use is toiletries or anything similar, like cotton swabs!

We’ve switched over to only use reusable ones, such as the ones from Last Object:

They are extremely popular with travelers for quick stop cooking; however, they are incredibly harsh on the environment as well.

So instead opt for refillable gas bottles to cook your food and choose solar lights and solar powered device charging as often as you can.

Slow Down and Pump your Tires up

You can save yourself a lot of money by simply using less fuel.

By simply reducing your speed and covering fewer miles each day, you will also lessen your carbon emissions. Also, do what you can to inspect your roof and reduce your vehicle’s drag.

By keeping your tires inflated to the maximum recommended pressure on the bitumen and having your vehicle regularly serviced, you’ll keep it running smoothly.

Also, try to opt for biodiesel (if your vehicle allows) as often as you can.

Be Wise with Water

Cherishing your water supply keeps you off the beaten track for longer, but it’s also good for the environment you are camping in.

By making peace with the dust in your rig, showering less, and saving your laundry for the next holiday park, you’re doing your part for a campsite and the environment.

Ultimately, by using a lesser amount of soap and shampoo, you also reduce the amount of time you’re spending in the shower and the amount of water you’re using and storing on board.

The amount of detergent being released into the environment would also be much less.

Some tips that you can apply while water hoarding is to install low-flow taps in your rig, water-saving showerheads, and always ensure that you catch a rain shower.

Have your vehicle rigged up to catch and channel rainwater directly into your water tank is a good idea.

Another tip while showering is to use a bucket at your feet to catch the water that flows while waiting for the hot water to kick in. Ultimately this can be used in your hand-operated washing machine.

Alternatively, for long-term usage consider modifying your rig to redirect the water from the sink and shower so it can be used to flush your toilet.

– Further tips from Sirocco Overland:

Filter/Purify Water

“Do not buy water in plastic bottles. Before you leave ensure you have a sustainable water filter/purification system along with replacement filters and a back-up.

Even developed countries struggle with plastic recycling, do not increase the burden.

Fill your containers/bottles from mountain springs, streams, people’s homes etc and filter from there. We have had no issues with this since using a proper system (we do not recommend chlorine or iodine for longterm use).”

Eat Local and Organic

Always consider your foods fuel bill. By purchasing locally grown food that has fewer food miles and uses a lesser amount of fuel to transport and refrigerate it, you’ll be supporting the environment.

Consequently, you also enjoy more nutritious, fresh, and tasty produce while supporting local farmers wherever you go.

As much as possible, opt for healthier, organic food that makes use of fewer fossil fuels to produce.

Also, try to buy produce that uses no artificial fertilizers, energy-intensive pesticides, and chemical feeds. Produce that contributes less nitrogen into the environment is also recommended.

Use Eco-Friendly Products

This is the year that you should make a priority to switch to biodegradable and natural personal and washing products.

Products such as shampoo, soap, sunscreen as well as laundry and kitchen detergents.

Not only are biodegradable products healthier for you and your family, but they are also kinder on the environment.

Natural ingredients such as vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are not only cheap but safe ingredients as well.

They can be used to clean toilets, floors, showers as well as bench tops. All you need to do is spray any caravan surface with bicarbonate of soda and a blend of vinegar and water and watch it fizz.

After that simply wipe the residue off.

You can also choose to spray and wipe all hard surfaces in your RV with the vinegar mix and thereafter wipe with clove oil and one liter of water before leaving to dry.

This makes your hard surfaces mold resistant.

Change Your Camping Habits

Some people are under the impression that just because they are staying in an established campground with all the amenities and power access right at each site, they can forget their power saving habits.

Always ensure that you switch off the shower while you soap up your hair and body and press the half flush button on the toilet each time.

Never leave a tap running as it can drain up to 16 liters of water per minute from your tank when left unattended.

Switch off the valve while you brush your teeth as well.

Furthermore, consider whether you actually need to wash your vehicle when returning from a camping trip.

If you would rather wear it as a badge of adventures honor letting everyone know where you’ve been, that’s perfectly fine.

However, if you absolutely must wash our vehicle, use less detergent and more elbow grease to ensure that you reduce the amount of water needed to rinse off the soapy residue.

Ditch Plastic Straws

Did you know that every single straw you have ever used is still on the planet today and they will never go away?

So basically they will always accumulate. Research suggests that people use millions of straws each day, and it’s a big problem with a rather simple solution.

And that is merely leaving straws on the counter. However, straws make sipping on your favorite drinks more convenient, and this is why people use them.

The more environmentally safer alternative is bamboo straws.

Not only are they renewable and sustainable, but they are 100% compostable.

So if you are a smoothie or juice drinker, bamboo straws are easy to pack and most come with a thin cleaner.

Ditch Single Use Coffee Cups

Perhaps one of the best and most earth-friendly things that campers do at 10:30 AM in the morning is stop to brew a cup of coffee.

Brewing your own coffee ensures that you keep non-recyclable cups at bay and out of the landfills.

You’ll be surprised at the number of cups you can keep out of the waste by simply making your own coffee in your own cup.

It is estimated that approximately 3 billion coffees are sold in disposable cups each year.

These cups are not biodegradable, and they leave behind a polyurethane lining that lives longer than you.

So if you do fancy a cup of coffee while you are on the road, you can always order one in a ceramic cup or mug and sit down and enjoy it.

And if you need to take some coffee away, simply hand the waitress your own reusable travel mug.

The best solution is, of course, is to make your own coffee in a remote place and just enjoy the moment!

Switch to Safer and Eco-Friendly Sunscreen

Sunscreen is a campers best friend; however, you may be surprised to know that most sunscreens sold contain toxic ingredients that are not only harmful to humans but also the waterways.

If you check the back of your sunscreen bottle and you see ingredients such as oxybenzone or octinoxate, then your sunscreen is toxic.

In fact, these ingredients have recently been banned in states such as Hawaii as it was proven to damage and kill coral reefs.

Natural sunscreens make use of the zinc oxide to shield your skin from harmful solar rays. This ingredient is human safe, as well.

Using toxic sunscreen is also making showering dangerous as it washes off into the drains, which eventually end up in your waterways.

So the chemicals that you put on your skin also affects the environment.

Invest in Good Camping Gear

Perhaps it may seem like a challenge to invest in proper camping gear since what’s good is never cheap, quality gear actually lasts the distance.

So ultimately you’ll save money in the long run. Furthermore, quality gear will never fail you when you need it the most.

Neither will it end up in a landfill sooner than it should. So make your goal for this year to invest in quality travel and overlanding gear, especially when it comes to clothing, footwear as well as portable fridges, kayaks, and car tires. Cry only once!

Spend your hard-earned cash wisely and invest in environmentally motivated equipment companies, such as Kupilka, that make use of recyclable materials that are not harsh on the environment and leave a small ecological print.

Ditch Wet Wipes

Using wet wipes are delightfully convenient. However, you may want to the rethink this convenience.

While lots of supermarkets claim that they are biodegradable, the truth is that many of them are not.

Most wet wipes end up in sewers after being flushed down the toilet and become what is known as fatbergs.

Unfortunately, the next destination for these wet wipes is the ocean where it will take approximately 100 years for them to break down or worse kill a sea creature that ingests it.

So an alternative which is biodegradable and environmentally friendly would be washable muslin cloth which is natural and also soap free.

Manage Waste Vehicle Oils

Top tip from Sirocco Overland: “Probably the biggest problem for long-haul overland travel.

Try to plan your service intervals around large or even capital cities (usually when you’re waiting for visas), this may be the only place with facilities to at least store or better still recycle oils responsibly.

If your servicing yourself make sure you have oil spill mats and enough containers to carry/store the waste oil in. Try not to use soft drink or milk bottles as these will likely leak in the heat.

Take all spill mats/rags, old filters along with the oil for disposal.”

Manage Daily Trash

Top tip from Sirocco Overland: “Only dispose of this stuff in towns or cities with proper facilities. Depending on your destination you may be carrying out 3-4 weeks worth of rubbish and it soon stacks up.

Consider what you are carrying and the space it will take up after you are done with it. Tinned foods for example take up a lot of room and are not easy to crush.

Transfer suitable food types to ziplock bags for re-use later whilst your in a town/city to minimise carrying waste later on.

Consider your space for waste. We use a Trasharoo spare wheel trash bag. (Read the full Trasharoo Review here.) This keeps the waste and smells outside and can take a huge amount of bagged rubbish.

We took the time to separate this stuff out so we could easily handle and recycle when needed. We managed 3 weeks of waste in ours whilst in Mongolia easily.”

Manage Poop

Top tip from Sirocco Overland: “Yes, it was going to come up sooner or later. Realistically you cannot pack this out when overlanding so its the bury option.

Human waste should be disposed of in a shallow hole six to eight inches deep at least 200 feet from water sources. Cover and disguise the hole with natural materials.

It is recommended to pack out your toilet paper but again realistically you should burn this responsibly.

Don’t forget the hand gel afterwards!”

Alternatively, we’d also say that another option is to purchase (real) recycled and eco-friendly toilet paper that you can just also bury, so there is no need to burn it.

You can read our full guide on How to Poop in the Wilderness.

We had a modified camping chair that functioned as a toilet. Get yourself something similar and in remote areas you can enjoy a view in your most private moments!

If you don’t want to be viewed, though, use a shower tent over your modified camping chair for a full setup.

Be Careful with Jerry Cans and Fuel Filling

Top tip from Sirocco Overland: “Only fill your vehicle or jerry cans at filling stations. Take your time and prepare in advance to avoid spillages.

Some pumps do not have auto shutoff and will continue to run when you have your back turned. Line up your cans in advance with lids open and have your fuel cap(s) open ready.

Only used approved fuel cans for transport not plastic barrels.”

We also came across several gas stations where the equipment was from the Soviet era and the pumps didn’t have auto-shutoff.

Those can surprise you in a very nasty way, as one of our friends’ have experienced a full diesel-shower on one of our trips in 2014 in Uzbekistan.

In Conclusion

Camping is a wonderful way to de-stress and enjoy quality time with family and friends.

Thanks to beautiful and natural campsites, you are afforded the privilege of enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer.

Therefore, it is in your best interest and that of the generations to come that you try your utmost best to limit your impact on the environment.

Overlanding may not be the most environmentally friendly option while camping, however, there are dozens of good habits that you can start practicing to ensure that you limit your carbon footprint on nature.

Source Over Land Site

Bringing the chill of the cosmos to a warming planet – Washington Post

Posted on October 20, 2020October 20, 2020 by dishanth

Long ago, in lands that were always warm, people got ice from the heavens.

At sunset, they poured water into shallow earthen pits or ceramic trays insulated with reeds. All through the night the water would radiate its heat into the chilly void of space. By morning, it turned to ice — even though the air temperature never dropped below freezing.

This wasn’t magic; it was science.

For centuries, desert dwellers in North Africa, India and Iran tapped into a law of physics called radiative cooling. All objects — people, plants, buildings, planets — give off heat in waves of invisible light. On a clear, starry night, that radiation can rise through the atmosphere until it escapes Earth entirely. Coldness, which is really the absence of heat, is created through this invisible connection to the cosmos.

The world now cools off with the help of more than 3.5 billion refrigerators and air conditioners, a number that is quickly growing. But those appliances are also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. In seeking relief from the heat, humans are making the globe even hotter, compounding the demand for cooling.

To break that cycle, University of California at Los Angeles materials scientist Aaswath Raman wants to turn ancient technology into a 21st-century tool.

Justin Andres, left, and Danny Laporte apply a protective layer of film containing copper and silver on SkyCool panels at Grocery Outlet in Stockton, Calif., on Oct. 5. (Sarahbeth Maney for The Washington Post)

Working with colleagues, he has developed a thin, mirror-like film engineered to maximize radiative cooling on a molecular level. The film sends heat into space while absorbing almost no radiation, lowering the temperature of objects by more than 10 degrees, even in the midday sun. It can help cool pipes and panels — like a booster rocket for refrigerators and cooling systems. Incorporated into buildings, it may even replace air conditioning. And it requires no electricity, no special fuel — just a clear day and a view of the sky.

“It sounds improbable,” Raman acknowledged. “But the science is real.”

Generations after people learned to make ice in the desert, he hopes that same science can help us survive in a rapidly warming world.

SkyCool panels send heat to the sky and pull down cooling from space. They’re used to help keep refrigerators cool, reducing the amount of electricity they need, at Grocery Outlet in Stockton, Calif. (Sarahbeth Maney for The Washington Post)

Growing up in Alberta, Canada, where his father worked in the oil industry, Raman had an up-close view of the problem confronting the planet. Though the burning of fossil fuels is driving dangerous changes in the global climate, it also powers most of modern society.

“I had no illusions about being able to solve it immediately,” Raman said. “I understood how huge the energy industry is, and if you want to really displace it, anything that came after it would have to be just as big.”

He went to college to study astronomy, but an interest in solar panels led him to photonics, the study of light. Much like astronomy, photonics allowed him to explore the fundamental workings of the universe. At the same time, he hoped it might lead to discoveries that improved conditions on Earth.

In 2012, as he neared the end of his doctoral studies at Stanford University, he stumbled upon a reference to radiative cooling in an academic journal. Intrigued, he dug up whatever research on the phenomenon he could find.

Examples of radiative cooling after dark, also called night sky cooling, were everywhere. Raman uncovered century-old descriptions of the ancient ice-making practice and case studies from the 1970s describing efforts to cool buildings with rooftop pools (most efforts were abandoned when the pools became too difficult to maintain). He witnessed the phenomenon in his own life; it’s the reason frost can form on clear nights when the temperature stays above 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

And in climate change, he saw evidence of what happens when radiative cooling is disrupted. Earth also sends heat into space — that’s how it balances incoming energy from the sun. But the greenhouse gases created by human activities block infrared radiation, trapping it in the atmosphere. The planet is more than 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than in the preindustrial era, a shift that has worsened wildfires, intensified hurricanes and altered ecosystems across the world. United Nations scientists say humanity must reduce emissions by 7 percent a year to avoid still more catastrophic effects.

Yet radiative cooling has rarely been discussed as a potential tool for climate action, Raman said. Most researchers saw the phenomenon as an interesting physical fact with few practical applications. The reason: It is only measurable at night, when objects are emitting heat but not receiving any in return. Come morning, energy from the sun cancels out any cooling effect.

“Every paper made some kind of statement to the effect of, ‘Well, it’s usefulness is kind of limited because … you most need cooling during the day,’ ” Raman said. “Then I thought, well, why can’t we make this work during the day?”

The trick was to develop a material so perfectly reflective it absorbed almost no energy, even when exposed to full sunlight. On top of that, Raman wanted to maximize the amount of radiation the film sent into space.

So he found a loophole in the greenhouse effect.

Eli Goldstein, SkyCool’s CEO and co-founder, works on the Grocery Outlet project. (Sarahbeth Maney for The Washington Post)

A brief physics lesson: Though we often think of them as separate phenomena, the light that we see and the radiant heat we feel are just different kinds of electromagnetic wave. Visible light comes in an array of wavelengths, from short violet to long red. Thermal radiation typically spans a range of longer wavelengths in the infrared part of the spectrum.

Earth’s atmosphere blocks some outgoing infrared radiation — and it’s blocking even more now that it’s chock full of carbon. But there are “windows” that electromagnetic waves of just the right length can slip through. Somehow, Raman would have to find a way to get objects to emit only radiation that fit through those windows.

With colleagues in Stanford’s engineering department, led by professor Shanhui Fan, he began crafting a film from many microscopic layers. The thickness and composition of these layers were designed to interfere with the way different wavelengths of light travel. Incoming solar radiation would rebound right back into space. Outgoing thermal radiation would bounce around between the layers, like a pinball in a machine; only the desired infrared wavelengths would be able to escape.

[Cooling off without air conditioning]

Chris Atkinson was program director for Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy, a division within the U.S. Energy Department, which funded Raman’s early work. When he first heard about the experiment, “my initial response was, if this was so good, why hadn’t it been done before?” he recalled.

But Raman and his colleagues had something their predecessors lacked: modern nanotechnology. They could manipulate their materials, molecule by molecule, until it behaved exactly how they wanted.

“I was struck by the elegance and simplicity of it,” said Atkinson, now a professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State University. “The fact that you can get something for nothing is remarkable, especially in the energy realm.”

In a few years the Stanford group had its first prototype. Placed outside in the hot California sun, it felt cold to the touch. It was a giddy, counterintuitive sensation, even to Raman.

Yet even after he convinced himself that daytime radiative cooling was possible, it wasn’t until a trip to visit his grandmother in Mumbai that Raman started to see how it could also be useful.

A growing number of homes in Mumbai had air conditioners in their windows, something he rarely saw during childhood visits. That’s an unqualified victory for people’s health, Raman said; exposure to extreme heat can lead to a range of illnesses, from respiratory illness to psychological distress.

But as demand for air conditioning grows, so too will its environmental impact. The hydrofluorocarbons used as coolants and the fossil fuels burned to power the appliances are major contributors to global climate change, associated with about 7 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, when the demand for air conditioning is expected to triple, cooling could become one of world’s top sources of planet-warming gases.

“We kind of realized there was a huge problem and a huge opportunity,” Raman said, “and that this technology, if we developed it correctly, could be a really meaningful solution.”

[Test your knowledge about the climate with our quiz here]

That realization gave him more parameters for his cooling material. It had to be cheap, so it would be accessible to people of all income levels. It had to be able to integrate into existing air-conditioning systems. As they continued to tinker with the technology, Raman and his collaborators set up a company, SkyCool Systems, to help bring it into the world.

The company produces SkyCool panels that can be incorporated into existing cooling systems. Water running through the panels is chilled by the film, then transported into the air-conditioning system, where it lowers the temperature of the refrigerant. This reduces the amount of electricity needed to turn hot air into cold.

The SkyCool panels lowered Grocery Outlet’s electric bill by about $3,000 over the course of the summer, store manager Jesus Valenzuela said. (Sarahbeth Maney for The Washington Post)

It wasn’t difficult to convince Jesus Valenzuela, store manager at the Stockton, Calif., Grocery Outlet, to test the technology. Between the deli case, the dairy aisle, the freezer section and all the backroom storage, cooling alone cost him more than $100,000 a year. On top of that, the California native was worried by the disasters climate change had already wrought on his state.

An offer from Lime Energy to pay the installation fee sealed the deal. If the film worked, Valenzuela would only owe SkyCool Systems the savings from his electricity bill for the first two years.

The panels were installed this spring. Though Eli Goldstein, SkyCool’s co-founder and CEO, explained the technology to him, he didn’t quite get how the coldness of space could help chill chicken cutlets and freezer pizza.

“There’s a lot of technical things I don’t know about,” he said. But that didn’t matter: The SkyCool panels had lowered his electric bill by about $3,000 over the course of the summer, he said.

“All I know,” Valenzuela said, “is that it’s saving me money.”

LEFT: The SkyCool technology could provide a “meaningful solution” to the growing demand for air conditioning and its environmental impacts. (Sarahbeth Maney for The Washington Post) RIGHT: Danny Laporte replaces a protective layer of film. (Sarahbeth Maney for The Washington Post)

The SkyCool technology still needs to be refined, Atkinson said, and it must become significantly cheaper before it can be deployed widely. But the big scientific hurdle has been surmounted, he said. The rest is mostly business.

Meanwhile, Goldstein, Raman and their colleagues are working on further applications of the film. With a grant from the California Energy Commission, they have contracted with the California State University System to replace all the air conditioners in a school building — hoping to cool the entire structure with just the sky. In May, Raman published a journal article on the possibility of modifying off-the-shelf paints to enhance radiative cooling; if it works, building owners could simply paint their roofs to make the structures significantly cooler.

Raman has even researched the possibility of using radiative cooling to create light. In a study last year in the journal Joule, he demonstrated how cooling one side of a thermoelectric generator while keeping the other at air temperature could create a temperature gradient that, when converted into electricity, could power a lightbulb.

Each demonstration of radiative cooling’s power fosters in Raman a sense of kinship with the ice makers of long ago. He imagines them experimenting night after night, using trial and error to perfect their technique — the same scientific process Raman uses today.

In a rapidly changing world, it’s a reminder of what remains the same, he said: The laws of physics. The needs of people. The power of science to explain the workings of the planet and improve the lives of everyone who lives on it.

By Sarah Kaplan

Source: Washington Post

UK’s CO2 emissions have fallen 29% over the past decade

Posted on March 18, 2020August 12, 2020 by dishanth

The 2.9% fall in 2019 marks a seventh consecutive year of carbon cuts for the UK, the longest series on record.
It also means UK carbon emissions in 2019 fell to levels last seen in 1888.

The UK’s CO2 emissions fell by 2.9% in 2019, according to Carbon Brief analysis. This brings the total reduction to 29% over the past decade since 2010, even as the economy grew by a fifth.

Another 29% reduction in coal use last year was the driving force behind the decline in UK emissions in 2019, with oil and gas use largely unchanged. Carbon emissions from coal have fallen by 80% over the past decade, while those from gas are down 20% and oil by just 6%.

The 2.9% fall in 2019 marks a seventh consecutive year of carbon cuts for the UK, the longest series on record. It also means UK carbon emissions in 2019 fell to levels last seen in 1888.

The analysis comes as the UK – and the world – enter what needs to be a “decade of action” in the 2020s, if global goals to limit rising temperatures are to be met. Ahead of the COP26 UN climate summit this November, countries are expected to submit enhanced pledges to tackle emissions.

But UK government projections show the country will miss its legally binding carbon targets later this decade. To meet the UK’s carbon budgets, CO2 emissions would need to fall by another 31% by 2030, whereas government projections expect just a 10% cut, based on current policies.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which is the UK government’s official climate advisory body, has also said the UK’s targets over the next decade are “likely” to be insufficient, given the increased goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

Annual decline

Carbon Brief’s provisional estimates suggest that the UK’s CO2 emissions fell by another 2.9% in 2019, once again driven primarily by falling coal use, as shown in the table, below.

Annual change in UK CO2 emissions
Image: Carbon brief

The bulk of the reduction in coal use last year came from the power sector, which accounted for 93% of the overall fall in demand for the fuel in 2019. The remainder was from industry.

Coal generation fell by close to 60% and accounted for just 2% of UK electricity last year – less than solar. Fossil fuels collectively accounted for a record-low 43% of the total, according to Carbon Brief analysis published at the start of January. Some 54% of electricity generation in the UK is now from low-carbon sources, including 37% from renewables and 20% from wind alone.

There were 83 days in 2019 when the UK went without coal power, including a record 18-day stretch in May. Almost all of the UK’s remaining coal power plants have announced plans to close over the next 12 months, leaving just three operating ahead of the 2024 government deadline.

Carbon Brief’s emissions analysis shows that CO2 from burning gas remained virtually unchanged during 2019. The fuel is now the single-largest contributor to UK emissions, ahead of oil.

Gas demand for electricity generation, as well as demand to heat homes and businesses, were relatively flat, with 2019 seeing similar temperatures to those in 2018. (Both years were around 0.5C above the long-term average for 1981-2010.)

Oil demand and emissions fell by nearly 1% in 2019, Carbon Brief’s analysis suggests. This is despite rising road traffic, up 0.8% in the year to September 2019, according to separate government figures published in December.

The UK’s vehicle fleet is changing under several competing influences, with electric vehicle sales surging and diesel cars losing out to petrol in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

Meanwhile, a broader global trend towards heavier vehicles, such as SUVs, means that the average CO2 emissions per mile for new UK cars has been increasing for three years. Notably, the relative mix of traffic from private cars, vans and trucks is also shifting, as discussed below.

Past decade

Carbon Brief’s analysis shows that the UK’s CO2 emissions have fallen by 29% over the past decade since 2010, the year when the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government took office. At the same time, the UK’s economic output has risen by 18%, as the chart below shows.

Change in the UK’s CO2 emissions and real GDP since 2010, per cent.
Image: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), World Bank and Carbon Brief analysis

Looking at international data up to 2018 – the most recent year available – the UK has seen the fastest decline in CO2 emissions of any major economy. Only the US has seen larger absolute cuts than the UK, in terms of tonnes of CO2 over this period, but its 5% decline is smaller in percentage terms.

The UK’s CO2 emissions in 2019 stood at an estimated 354 million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2), some 41% below 1990 levels.

This places the UK in between Australia (421MtCO2 in 2018) and Poland (344MtCO2). The UK’s per-capita CO2 emissions in 2019, at 5.3tCO2, are above the global average (4.8 in 2018) and India (2.0), but below the EU average (7.0) and the figure for China (7.2) or the US (16.6).

Almost all of the recent progress on UK emissions has come in the power sector, which has seen dramatic changes over the past decade. Coal use to generate electricity has plummeted thanks to reductions in demand and the rise of renewables, while gas power has also fallen slightly.

By way of illustration, the chart below shows that coal accounts for around three-fifths of the decline in UK CO2 emissions over the past decade. The vast majority of this – some 89% – is due to falling coal use in the power sector. (Coal use in the steel industry has halved, accounting for a further 8% of the decline in coal emissions over the past decade.)

Contributors of change for the UKs drop in carbon emissions
Image: Carbon Brief analysis of data on energy and emissions from BEIS.

In order to meet climate goals towards 2030, the UK’s CO2 emissions will need to fall another 31% from 2019, compared with the 29% achieved over the past decade. Emissions would need to fall even faster if the targets are raised in line with net-zero by 2050. In contrast, government projections suggest CO2 emissions will only fall by a further 10% by 2030.

(Carbon Brief estimates that UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were some 45% below 1990 levels, against a target of 61% for the five years covering 2028-2032.)

Moreover, coal’s share of the UK electricity mix is now so low that there is very limited scope to continue driving emissions cuts by reducing use of the fuel. This means other, more visible sectors of the economy will need to make progress for the UK to continue hitting its legally binding goals.

As the chart above shows, the past decade has seen much more limited progress in cutting emissions from oil (down 6%) or gas (20%), with these fuels broadly associated with transport (oil) and space heating in homes or offices (gas).

Domestic gas use has declined by 20% since 2010, thanks to improvements in the energy efficiency of homes and regulations driving a shift to more efficient condensing boilers. Yet the majority of homes remain far short of the government’s aspirational target for higher efficiency and UK properties are among the least-well insulated in Europe.

Gas use for electricity generation has also fallen by 25% over the past decade, even as coal generation has collapsed, thanks to reduced demand and the rise of renewables.

Emissions from oil use have remained relatively unchanged over the past decade. This is largely due to transport, which is now the single largest source of UK CO2 emissions on a sectoral basis. The country’s cars are now responsible for more CO2 than the entire power sector, for example.

Although oil emissions have changed little over the past decade, this conceals some significant shifts within the transport total, thanks to shifting driving patterns and modest improvements in fuel efficiency over time.

For example, the number of miles driven by cars has increased by around 5% over the past decade, while CO2 emissions from cars have fallen by 3%.

Meanwhile, the number of miles driven by “light duty vehicles”, such as delivery vans, has shot up by 23% in a decade, corresponding to a 20% rise in CO2 emissions.

Vans and trucks together make up around a third of all UK emissions from transport, with cars adding another 55% and the remainder coming from domestic aviation, shipping and railways.

Historical trend

After a record seven consecutive years of decline, the UK’s CO2 emissions are now some 41% below 1990 levels. Outside years with general strikes, seen clearly in the chart, below, this is the lowest level since 1888, when the first-ever Football League match was played and Tower Bridge was being built near what is now Carbon Brief’s office in London.

BEIS, Carbon Brief analysis and the World Resources Institute CAIT data explorer. The CAIT data has been adjusted because it excludes emissions from land use and forestry.
Image: BEIS, Carbon Brief analysis and the World Resources Institute CAIT data explorer. The CAIT data has been adjusted because it excludes emissions from land use and forestry.

Although no other country in the world has achieved similar reductions, it is worth emphasising that the UK was the first to industrialise. As such, its cumulative historical emissions still rank as the fourth-highest in the world.

Reasons for change

If the UK’s energy system had remained unchanged over the past decade, then the country’s rising population and economic growth would have driven emissions higher, rather than lower.

This is shown in the chart, below, which breaks down the reasons for the dramatic reduction in emissions that has actually occurred.

The largest contributor to falling emissions over the past decade has been improvements in energy intensity, which is the amount of energy needed to produce each unit of GDP. Broadly speaking, this reflects the fact that the UK has become much more energy efficient.

The second-largest contributor has been a shift to cleaner fuels, primarily renewable sources of electricity. Together, these effects have more than offset the impact of rising population and GDP.

Contributions to the change in UK CO2 emissions between 2010 (leftmost column) and 2019
Image: Carbon Brief analysis of data on energy and emissions from BEIS, population data from the World Bank and UK real GDP estimates from the World Bank.

The various factors in the chart above are estimated from a “Kaya identity”, according to which emissions are the product of population, multiplied by GDP per capita, multiplied by the energy intensity of GDP, multiplied by the CO2 intensity of energy.

CO2 = P x GDP/capita x energy/GDP x CO2/energy

To calculate the relative contributions to changing emissions, each factor is systematically varied while holding other elements constant. For example, the Kaya identity can be used to estimate what UK CO2 emissions would have been in 2019, if population had remained at 2010 levels.

As noted in the caption to the figure, above, the chart labels are a shorthand. Specifically, changes in the energy intensity of GDP, labelled as “energy efficiency”, are a reflection of genuine demand reductions – due to more efficient products and processes – but they also reflect the increasing share of energy coming from renewable sources.

This is because a large part of the “primary energy” contained in raw fossil fuels – a lump of coal, for example – is lost as waste heat when the fuel is burned to produce useful energy. The same is not true of electricity from windfarms or solar panels, which, therefore, has a lower energy intensity.

Carbon Brief calculations

Carbon Brief’s estimates of the UK’s CO2 emissions in 2019 are based on analysis of provisional energy use figures published by BEIS on 28 February 2020. The same approach has accurately estimated year-to-year changes in emissions in previous years (see table, below).

Estimated year-on-year change in UK CO2 emissions versus reported results
Image: Carbon Brief

One large source of uncertainty is the provisional energy use data, which BEIS revises at the end of March each year and often again later on. Emissions data is also subject to revision in light of improvements in data collection and the methodology used.

The table above applies Carbon Brief’s emissions calculations to the latest energy use and emissions figures, which may differ from those published previously.

Another source of uncertainty is the fact that Carbon Brief’s approach to estimating the annual change in CO2 output differs from the methodology used for the BEIS provisional estimates. This is largely because BEIS has access to more granular data, which is not available for public use.

However, Carbon Brief understands that its methodology has over the past year been used to improve the early “pre-provisional” estimates produced by the department for internal use, prior to the release of full provisional figures at the end of March each year.

In Carbon Brief’s approach, UK CO2 emissions are estimated by multiplying the reported consumption of each fossil fuel, in energy terms, by its emissions factor. This is the amount of CO2 released for each unit of energy consumed and it varies for different fuels.

For example, diesel, petrol and jet fuel have different emissions factors and Carbon Brief’s analysis accounts for this where possible. This adjustment is based on the quantity of each fuel type used per year, drawn from separate BEIS figures covering oil, coal and g a s.

Emissions from land use and forestry are assumed to remain at the same level as in 2018. This year, Carbon Brief adopted the BEIS approach to estimating the change in emissions from greenhouse gases other than CO2.

Note that the figures in this article are for emissions within the UK measured according to international guidelines. This means they exclude emissions associated with imported goods, including imported biomass, as well as the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published detailed comparisons between various different approaches to calculating UK emissions, on a territorial, consumption, environmental accounts or international accounting basis.

The UK’s consumption-based CO2 emissions increased between 1990 and 2007. Since then, however, they have fallen by a similar number of tonnes as emissions within the UK. Carbon Brief estimates that consumption-based CO2 emissions fell by around 21% over the past decade.

Bioenergy is a significant source of renewable energy in the UK and its climate benefits are disputed. Contrary to public perception, however, only around one quarter of bioenergy is imported.

International aviation is considered part of the UK’s carbon budgets and faces the prospect of tighter limi t s on its CO2 emissions. The international shipping sector recently agreed to at least halve its emissions by 2050, relative to 2008 levels.

Written by

Simon Evans , Policy Editor, Carbon Brief

This article first appeared on Carbon Brief.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.