Climate change are two words on everyone’s lips right now, thanks to a number of recent headlines.
2017 was the second hottest year since records began. Cape Town faces ‘Day Zero’ in June, when water taps must finally be turned off. We’re all reeling from the hard truths of ‘Blue Planet II’, where we learned (amongst other shockers) that the glitter we loved as kids wreaks havoc with the environment. Even Her Majesty the Queen – after a quiet chat with Sir David – has banned single-use plastics from all Royal Estates. You could be forgiven for thinking that the planet is going to hell in a handcart. But it’s not all bad news.
In the background, the energy industry is slowly, but very surely, turning things around. And despite the doomsayers, 2017 was actually a landmark year in the journey towards a truly sustainable energy future. Landmark, why? Because low-carbon technologies (renewables and nuclear) generated just over 50% of the UK's electricity in 2017. And for the very first time, that outstripped the combined power of coal and gas, which sat at 46.7%.
Within these figures, perhaps the most exciting news is that renewables – that’s wind, solar, hydropower and biomass – alone accounted for almost a third of the UK total power generated. That’s a healthy rise from less than a quarter in 2016. Green campaigners and their spokespeople declared 2017 ‘the greenest year ever’, and there’s optimism that 2018 will be even better.
At QEM Solutions we are painfully aware that there are many sides to every news story, and little wins for some may mean great sacrifice for others. But we’re committed to helping the UK, and the planet, towards a more sustainable energy future, where we can. Take the Leeds H21 Project, for example. There, we’re helping Northern Gas Networks pilot the use of hydrogen in the gas network. A project, which, if it works, and is rolled out nationwide, could get the UK to striking distance of its Climate Change Act 2050 goals.
Yes, it is time to ban glitter from your kids’ craft boxes. Yes, it is time to boycott supermarkets who overdo the packaging. And yes, we probably need to rethink our taste for eating meat. But it’s not yet time to become a climate change pessimist.
There’s life in this pale blue dot yet.
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