I walked into an interesting breakfast conversation over the holidays about climate change. “Dad, you recently graduated with a degree in renewable energy, what exactly should we be doing now about climate change?” The question caught me before coffee, and I didn’t have a succinct answer. “It’s complicated” was the best I could reply, but after coffee I reengaged. Indeed, resolving climate change is complicated, and the solution complex. There are three simple things that can be done today requiring no new technology:
#1 - Stipulate Energy Efficiency
Through simple building and transportation maintenance and repairs we can make a significant impact to greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. These changes don’t happen by accident and that is part of the reason Sustainable Engineering has partnered with the DoE 50001 Ready Energy Management Program. And guess what, it’s free, and you can make the commitment to start this week.
#2 - Curtain Methane Emissions
Pound for pound, methane (natural gas) released to the atmosphere contributes 25x more to climate change than CO2. There are numerous anthropogenic (human caused) sources of methane. New satellite sensors are showing oil & gas drilling for one, is releasing far more methane than the EPA ever predicted. Expeditious reduction of methane emissions will buy us time to incorporate renewables into our energy supply.
#3 - Electrify Everything (reasonable)
As energy users, we need to electrify our energy use. This includes transportation, water heating, HVAC, and industrial process electrification. By doing this we create the demand that the utilities can efficiently supply.
What are your Three Things to do today towards Sustainability?
This is just the tip of the iceberg and there is so much more that I’ll leave for other posts. We would like to hear your opinion for “three things” to do today for resolving climate change. You can submit reply to this post on our LinkedIn page or use the Contact Us button.
