> The world is on an "unstoppable" shift towards renewable energy but the phase down of fossil fuels is not happening quickly enough, a new report says.
I would not be making such claims with a global recession and wars increasingly prevalent. A lot of legislation around clean energy may be pushed aside for economic or security purposes.
> But it warned that emissions were still too high to prevent temperatures rising above a key threshold of 1.5C.
What makes 1.5C key? Why not 2C [1]? And is this normalised for background rise vs actual rise? The earth's temperature has risen fast in the past too [2].
> The report said the growth in clean energy and technologies was "impressive". In 2020, one in 25 cars sold was electric. Just three years later this number has risen to one in five.
Vehicle emissions are: (manufacturing + running) / years_of_service
By far the most environmentally friendly thing to do currently is to keep existing vehicles running for longer, until they are eventually traded for something more efficient. I'm yet to be convinced that these EV batteries will serve out the 10 years they claim and they also have a higher emissions for manufacturing. They are also only as environmentally friendly as the energy generation which is continuously under threat and very difficult to scale without significant investment.
That said, if you really want to make a dent, start tackling the shipping industry rather than the individual. This is where we make big changes quickly [3]. The emissions from these ships is also likely directly acidifying our oceans too.
Then put in some regulation/tax regarding the import of materials or goods from countries that do not have good emissions standards. This would force Countries like China to clean up their act and stop Countries outsourcing their carbon emissions.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_degree_climate_target
[2] https://www.science.org/content/article/500-million-year-sur...
[3] https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cruise-...
I would not be making such claims with a global recession and wars increasingly prevalent. A lot of legislation around clean energy may be pushed aside for economic or security purposes.
> But it warned that emissions were still too high to prevent temperatures rising above a key threshold of 1.5C.
What makes 1.5C key? Why not 2C [1]? And is this normalised for background rise vs actual rise? The earth's temperature has risen fast in the past too [2].
> The report said the growth in clean energy and technologies was "impressive". In 2020, one in 25 cars sold was electric. Just three years later this number has risen to one in five.
Vehicle emissions are: (manufacturing + running) / years_of_service
By far the most environmentally friendly thing to do currently is to keep existing vehicles running for longer, until they are eventually traded for something more efficient. I'm yet to be convinced that these EV batteries will serve out the 10 years they claim and they also have a higher emissions for manufacturing. They are also only as environmentally friendly as the energy generation which is continuously under threat and very difficult to scale without significant investment.
That said, if you really want to make a dent, start tackling the shipping industry rather than the individual. This is where we make big changes quickly [3]. The emissions from these ships is also likely directly acidifying our oceans too.
Then put in some regulation/tax regarding the import of materials or goods from countries that do not have good emissions standards. This would force Countries like China to clean up their act and stop Countries outsourcing their carbon emissions.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_degree_climate_target
[2] https://www.science.org/content/article/500-million-year-sur...
[3] https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cruise-...