Fresh Direction

06/08/2024

Carbon 101 - Post 4 - The Paris Agreement and Greenhouse Gas Protocol

We have known about global warming since 1938 since it was first recognised by a steam engineer who first collected records in his spare time.

But this really became mainstream in what is widely called the 'Paris Agreement' which was made at COP21 in December 2015.
The overarching goal of the Paris Agreement was to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”
Each country made commitments to reduce carbon emissions, although moist have adjusted their commitments since then.
The latest commitment from the UK is to cut emissions by 68% by 2030 from 'pre industrial' levels (around the year 1900)

In order to do this our friends at the WRI (mentioned in previous posts) teamed up with some other clever people to create the Greenhouse Gas Protocol which was actually launched in 1998, way before the Paris Agreement, but became must more important afterwards.

So what is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol?

The GHG Protocol is a mechanism that was designed to help business's calculate their own emissions, although has now been taken up by individual consumers as well.
It splits emissions (measured in Co2e) into 3 GHG 'Scopes' In layman's terms they are -

Scope 1 covers emissions from sources that an organisation owns or controls directly – for example from burning fuel in vehicles (if they’re not electrically-powered).

Scope 2 are emissions that a company causes indirectly and come from where the energy it purchases and uses is produced. For example, the emissions caused when generating electricity.

Scope 3 encompasses emissions that are not produced by the company itself and are not the result of activities from assets owned or controlled by them, but by those that it’s indirectly responsible for up and down its value chain. An example of this is when we buy, use and dispose of products from suppliers. Scope 3 emissions include all sources not within the scope 1 and 2 boundaries.

01/08/2024

Carbon 101 - Post 3 - Why is GWP important ?

So we know what the worst gasses are and how we measure them - but why exactly is this a problem?
To understand Global Warming you need to first understand the earths albedo, which Wikipedia explains is the fraction of sunlight that is diffusely reflected by a body. This can be thought of as how reflective the earth is. The more sunlight hits the earth, the warmer it gets. Yes there is far more to in than that (white things like the polar ice cap reflect more than darker things like soil) but lets keep things simple for now.
We use the term Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) as they do exactly that, cause a greenhouse effect. Gasses in the atmosphere let the suns rays (Infrared radiation) through to the earth, some of which are reflected back into the atmosphere. Greenhouse Gasses then reflect some of the suns rays back to the earth, causing the planet to warm further. Simple eh?
As you saw from my last post, each GHG has a different Global Warming Potential (GWP) which can be thought of in terms of how 'reflective' it is, and how long it takes to dissipate.
As an example, Co2 takes somewhere between 300 and 1,00 years to leave the atmosphere.

25/07/2024

Carbon 101 - Post 2 - What are the GHG's?

*Warning, this post contains some stupidly long technical names!*

OK, we we know we measure GHG's in terms of Metric Tonnes of Co2e (see previous post)
But what are the main GHG's and where do they come from?
Their are thousands of Gasses that impact our environment through increasing the earths albedo (more on that later) but the WRI I mentioned previously highlighted the main 7 bad boys. In order to create an equal playing field they calculate how each gas will effect the atmosphere using the term Global Warming Potential (GWP)
The first 3 are naturally occurring gasses that we have massively amplified the volume of since the industrial revolution
1 - Carbon Dioxide (Co2) - The one we are most familiar with - Co2 is released through many many natural process's, but it's atmospheric concentration has increased by 50% since the industrial revolution. Co2 has a GWP of 1 because it is the main contributor to climate change.
2 - Methane (CH4) - Another gas we are fairly familiar with and another natural one that has increased significantly since the industrial revolution. Farming (cow burps are worse than farts), Landfill and traditional oil and gas production are the main culprits here. Methane has a GWP of 28, meaning a Tonne of Methane is 28 times worse than a Tonne of Co2.
3 - Nitrous Oxide (N2O) - Any boy racers out there, or any mothers may recognise Nitrous Oxide, otherwise known as Laughing Gas. The main sources include fertilisers and the good old combustion engine. Big industry also emits significant Methane due to burning fossil fuels. N2O has a GWP of 265
The next 4 are all man made and have much more funky names
4 - Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) - Gasses that are mainly used in Refrigeration, Heating and Ventilation Systems (HVAC) and aerosols. Yes they might be in your fridge, yes the might be in your car. Not released into the atmosphere in general use, but can be when you scrap your car or fridge. There might be much less in terms of volume being released but these gasses can have a GWP of between 150 and 11,500 depending on the specific makeup.
5 - Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) - Generally colourless, odourless and non flammable, sound harmless right? WRONG! Generally coming from the manufacture of Aluminium and actually have some good uses such as the manufacture of semiconductors (Yes, whatever device you are reading this on has used some PFC's) as well as some medical process's. PFC's have a GWP of between 6,500 and 9,200 depending on the specific makeup.
6 - Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) - Another inert gas that is used primarily in the manufacture of high voltage electrical transmission equipment. Think your energy coming from renewables is completely clean? Think again, SF6 has a GWP of around 23,500!
7 - Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) - Last one - Used in the manufacture of microelectronics - TV's, LED's etc. GWP here is around 16,100

24/07/2024

24/07/2024

Carbon 101 - Post 1
We hear about it all the time, Carbon, Carbon, Carbon, but why do we talk about Carbon?
Well, 20 odd years ago some clever boffins from the World Resources Institute analysed the greenhouse gasses that were having the worst impact on our environment. They identified 6 key Gasses (and added a 7th very shortly afterwards) that became known as Greenhouse Gasses (GHG's) and are predominantly caused or massively amplified by human activity.
Each gas impacts the environment differently (having a different Global Warming Potential, or GWP - more on that later), so the WRI wanted to come up with a simple metric that could be used to calculate total emissions instead of having 7 separate metrics.
Carbon Dioxide (Co2) is by far the biggest in terms of volume and the one that we can have most impact on so the WRI coined the term Co2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent). So when we talk about Carbon, what we really mean is Carbon Dioxide Equivalent, which we measure in Metric Tonnes.
Simple eh?

24/07/2024

Net Zero – What Does It Mean?
Net-zero is a state of balance between the greenhouse gases produced in the atmosphere and the amount removed from it.

Net zero refers to the balancing of greenhouse gases produced and the amount removed form the atmosphere. Reach net zero emissions by 2050.

24/07/2024

You can't go far nowadays without hearing terms like Net Zero, Carbon Neutral, or Sustainable, but what do these things actually mean? I am here to educate my network and to help people to understand what this all means so that when you hear these terms, you actually know what they mean!