Re:Building future cities out of timber could save 100B tons...
by ben_w on Wednesday September 07, 2022 @10:28AM
(#32751078)
The other commenter may not have demonstrated any low hanging fruit, but I would say that there is still plenty of that:
• PV is approximately the cheapest electricity available, and not yet saturated in summer daytime
• BEVs have lower lifetime costs and emissions than ICE vehicles
• Not all homes are as insulated as they can be
• Given how cheap food is (and that the government subsidises and regulates it anyway), relatively modest updates can reduce methane emissions even without population dietary changes
And all that's assuming zero new tech. Vat grown meat is aiming for lower emissions, not just ethical benefits; there are efforts to produce low (and zero) emission steel and concrete.
The trouble is, the necessary reductions are around 99.9%, so we need more than just the combination of all the existing and near-term low-hanging fruit, we need all bar one of the apples in all the trees in the garden.
• PV is approximately the cheapest electricity available, and not yet saturated in summer daytime
• BEVs have lower lifetime costs and emissions than ICE vehicles
• Not all homes are as insulated as they can be
• Given how cheap food is (and that the government subsidises and regulates it anyway), relatively modest updates can reduce methane emissions even without population dietary changes
And all that's assuming zero new tech. Vat grown meat is aiming for lower emissions, not just ethical benefits; there are efforts to produce low (and zero) emission steel and concrete.
The trouble is, the necessary reductions are around 99.9%, so we need more than just the combination of all the existing and near-term low-hanging fruit, we need all bar one of the apples in all the trees in the garden.