Category: Carbon
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Carbon capture and storage: fact or fantasy?
The UK government has committed to a big expansion of carbon capture and storage (CCS), along with plans for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Using CCS is a prerequisite of expanding fossil fuel extraction if the UK is to stick to its target of reaching net zero by 2050. The government…
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How to look after the watts
The bill payer running around the house screaming at teenagers to ‘turn that light out’ was a sit com staple in the 1980’s, but with electricity bills going through the roof it is no longer a subject for cheap jokes. Before you start looking at turning off everything in your house, though, it might be…
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ACT: three years and counting!
On April 18th 2019, Audrey Compton was standing outside Forde House, the home of Teignbridge District Council (TDC), with a group of people holding banners. They were there to lobby the council to pass the climate emergency declaration proposal put forward by Councillor Jackie Hook. “We really didn’t think it would pass, but it did,…
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The day the well ran dry
On Wednesday 20th July our water stopped running: after providing our farm with running water for 36 years our well was dry. For us this was serious and scary. We were already being careful with our water use as it has been dry since the New Year. But then, suddenly, the only source of water…
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Council’s carbon reduction targets won’t do the job
Following its Climate Emergency declaration three years ago, Teignbridge District Council has published and adopted Part 1 of its Climate Action Plan. Part 2 is expected later this year. Action on Climate in Teignbridge (ACT) welcomes the long-awaited plan, believing it is an essential first step in delivering on the council’s commitment to be a…
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Economic growth measure fails on green front
The UK economy shrank by 9% in 2020 but bounced back in 2021, growing by 7.5%. This year, it is expected to grow by 3.6%. These numbers matter a lot to the government, but there is increasing debate about how relevant they are to setting economic policies to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies. That’s…
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IPCC Working Group lll report on mitigation of climate change
António Guterres Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness. Christiana Figueres The IPCC report tells us we are on a suicidal path. Change or kiss stability goodbye.…
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Call for new approach to measure progress towards net zero
The Environmental Audit Committee has written to both the Chancellor and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to ask for estimates of greenhouse gas emissions to be published alongside GDP figures to indicate whether economic growth and slashing emissions can be achieved together. This follows the committee’s inquiries in February and March into “Aligning the…
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We need more renewable energy and a new pricing system
The jolting rise in the price of energy should help focus minds on the urgent need to speed up the transition to renewable energy sources. We need to make that switch to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it would be good if it also helped reduce and stabilise energy prices. That’s not guaranteed under the…
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Cutting carbon emissions: a new district-wide climate project
Teignbridge is a beautiful district to live in – but, like the rest of the world, it is part of the climate problem, but also, part of the solution! There are so many people worrying about the crisis – so many communities that would like to help reduce climate change – what if we could…