Stopping deforestation is another quick fix, says Foley. Rotten trees in dying forests emit greenhouse gases, while healthy forests carbon sequestration on trees and in the soil. But this is not as easy as just throwing a seed across a landscape and calling it a day. An ecosystem need to grow again to its former biodiversity glory, which will make it much more resilient to climate change than growing a single crop of a single tree species.
Another less obvious climate solution could make people more conscious of their electricity use. For all the pain the pandemic has taken on humanity, it has suggested a more energy-efficient way of living, especially for those with the privilege of working from home. In the US, energy demand usually peaks when people come home from work and start cooking and operating their appliances. It is around sunset, when electricity production from solar power stops. Since there is no large-scale way to store that renewable energy for on-demand use, power plants have managed to respond by burning fossil fuels.
But in the future, career flexibility could translate into energy versatility: Instead of charging an electric vehicle and running a washing machine when they get home, many people can do those jobs during the day, when demand is lower and the sun is hot. “As we have more solar power, we will have more and more electricity produced in the future,” said Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez, director of the Advanced Math and Renewable Energy Laboratory at UC San Diego. around noon. “So if we can move as much electricity demand as we can to match the configuration of renewable generation, that is the best way we can combine more solar power with the cost of renewable energy. cheapest fee.”
However, Foley points out that personal change alone is not enough to cut it. And no one wants to return to a world of closed businesses and restricted movement. “Leaving people at home, others out of work and a lot of economic activity out of the way is probably not the way we want to decarbonize the world,” Foley said.
Some of the biggest efforts — like grid updates, emissions regulation, and other systemic changes — will have to be shouldered by governments alone. But Foley suggests that others would do better if governments partnered with consumers and financed better options. “The government doesn’t know how to spend money efficiently,” says Foley. “We throw large sums of money around and are often disappointed afterwards. And so I’m actually more attracted to a lot of smaller initiatives than the big big ones that get all the attention. ”
Take, for example, the government’s power to encourage homeowners to adopt greener technologies, which has previously been done by using rebates and tax breaks to accelerate the purchase of panels. solar battery. “The government didn’t make solar cheap — it was Chinese manufacturing that made solar cheaper,” says Foley. “But the government helped by adding more capital to that accelerating curve.” Now, he thinks, the same kinds of tax breaks and other incentives could be carried over to other devices, like heat pumps, that transfer heat in and out of homes instead. create heat. Heat pumps don’t burn fuel like furnaces do, so they can run on cleaner and more efficient energy, saving homeowners money. hundreds of dollars a year.
