Zero Carbon Britain
Posted by DavidM in Green websites | 17 October 2007
I found the Zero Carbon Britain website via CAT - the Centre for Alternative Technology - of which I'm a (very inactive) member.
The site is built around the Zero Carbon Britain report which details "how Britain can eliminate emissions from fossil fuels in 20 years and break our dependence on imported energy" and "how we can achieve this by halving energy demand and installing massive renewable energy generation".
I have to be honest and say that although I've downloaded the report, I've not had a chance to read it yet. However the site includes summaries of the key areas, including recognition that Britain going green in isolation won't save us - it needs to be an international effort.
For britain it advocates tradable energy quotas (TEQs) as a means of chasing carbon from the economy. Increasingly the green movement is recognising that economic levers can affect people's behaviour and is key to achieving mass action.
There are more radical ideas in the report. The Island Britain approach to transport limits domestic flights to emergency use only with the remainder replaced by high-speed rail and other transport. All cars would become electric-powered.
I'm not sure how feasible these suggestions are but given the furore over expanding airports - let alone ending domestic flights - I'd be surprised if any of the top 3 political parties adopted the full plan. However the Lib Dems have been influenced by the report in their own, much slower, green strategy.
It's great to see reports like this come out and contribute to the debate. As ever you can argue about the approach and details, but it highlights a big issue for me. To really tackle climate change we need to make significant differences in our use of energy. Swapping out a few lightbulbs helps but won't be enough.
Reports like this remind us that continual action is needed. If we don't do it, we'll end up imposing even more draconian measures in desparation at a later date.
