Climate change - An ‘Insurmountable’ Problem?

Seeing the climate change accelerating and trying to find a way to have a positive impact, can sometimes feel like an insurmountable problem. It feels like we just won't be able to solve them. And sometimes, it feels like you are doing your best and wonder if it has any impact at all…

Well, Hannah Ritchie, a researcher at the University of Oxford and deputy editor of Our World in Data, shows that humas are capable of solving problems, even really big urgent ones. Looking at the climate tech innovations as well, there are plenty of interesting technology that will help us with the challenges we are facing now as well.

The main driver of climate change today is human emissions of greenhouse gases. Now, these come from a range of sources. You can divide them into four key areas: energy, construction, food and transport.

These areas are the ones we need to target in order to solve climate change.

Energy Transition?

What's really key to transforming our energy system is that we need to move away from fossil fuels to low-carbon sources of energy, such as solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and nuclear. But many people are concerned about the potential implications for land use by moving to renewables. They picture fields filled with solar panels and all of our landscapes transformed into wind farms.

When you analyze the data, the numbers tell a slightly different story. When we look at how much solar we would need to meet demand for the world's electricity today, we could actually produce that on less than 1% of the world's land. For wind, it’s less than 1% if you take into consideration that you can use the land around and between the wind turbines for farming.

For nuclear, You could feasibly power the world on less than 0.1%.

But for especially solar, we have so many underutilized rooftops and facades that we could get a significant way just turning our buildings into powerplants. For houses with SunRoof, the energy production is sufficient to power not only the house, but also electrical vechicles - really enabling a transition to renewable and climate friendly life and living. And the design won't be compromized. Just have a look at this example:

Emissions from Construction and Manufacturing

Construction and manufacturing are other major sources of emissions. These emissions come from two main areas: the energy used in production and the direct emissions from specific materials. Take cement, for example. The process involves heating limestone to very high temperatures, which produces CO2 as a byproduct. To address this, we need to find ways to eliminate that CO2 byproduct.?

There are several approaches to reducing cement emissions. One approach is simply using less cement. This doesn't necessarily mean using fewer building materials, but rather using cement with a lower carbon footprint in our products. Another approach is capturing the carbon dioxide at the end of the cement production process. This CO2 can either be reintegrated into the cement, potentially making it stronger, or captured and stored underground to prevent it from entering the atmosphere.

We take a similar approach of using less materials when building our solar roofs. In our case, we eliminate the need for ceramic tiles that has a very energy intense production process. And as long as the grid isn’t decarbonized, the CO2 footprint remains high for traditional roofs.

While different solutions are technically feasible or being implemented like SunRoof, it is critical to reduce the costs so that the technology can compete with existing methods.

SunRoof has recently achieved a very important milestone, where our solution can be more cost effective than first building a traditional roof and then putting solar panels on top. This puts the climate positive technology in a position that it’s also a better investment, leaving very few reasons not to opt for such a solution. Other technologies are starting to displace the old methods and solutions.

Emissions from Food

Food production is responsible for about a quarter of global emissions, with contributions from various sources. A significant factor is land use change. While we often think of urban areas and infrastructure as having the biggest impact on land use, they actually account for less than 1% of the world's land. In contrast, farming occupies nearly half of the world's habitable land. The emissions here are not just from carbon dioxide but also from other potent greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide.

There are three primary strategies to reduce food-related emissions:

First, we can make food systems more productive, achieving higher yields per hectare of land.

Second, dietary changes can have a significant impact, as meat and dairy products tend to have a much higher carbon footprint than plant-based foods. The environmental aspect has been part of my choice to basically eliminate meat from my diet.

Finally, reducing food waste is crucial. The issue with food waste isn't just the emissions from decomposing waste in landfills but also the emissions generated throughout the entire production process of food that ultimately goes uneaten. I personally have plenty of room to improve here.

Reducing Emissions from Transport

Approximately 20% of our CO2 emissions come from the transport sector. The majority of this comes from cars and trucks, with the rest originating from rail, shipping, and aviation. The most straightforward way to reduce transport emissions is to drive less, opting instead for walking, cycling, or using public transport. However, we also need to acknowledge that eliminating cars entirely isn't feasible, but we can make strides in decarbonizing them.

For example, in Europe, an electric vehicle initially has higher embedded emissions compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle due to the energy-intensive process of producing its battery. Yet, once on the road, the electric car quickly makes up for this. Within just two years of driving, the average driver offsets the carbon debt from manufacturing, leading to substantial CO2 savings over the car's lifetime—often reducing emissions by half to two-thirds compared to a traditional vehicle.

What's particularly important is that electric vehicles will continue to become cleaner as we decarbonize our electricity grids over the next decade.

Being an ‘Urgent Optimist’

Like Hannah Ritchie, I’m an "urgent optimist”. The future will only be better if we take active steps to make it better, and fast.

Historically, human progress has often conflicted with environmental preservation. However, we're now in a unique position where these two goals no longer need to be at odds. And we don’t need to compromise between design, economics and functionality.

The opportunity is there, and it's up to us to seize it and make a difference. I’ll do my best. Will you?

Sources: OurWorldInData.org , sustainabilitybynumbers.com , energyforgrowth.org , SunRoof