How to Live a Low-Carbon Life: The Individuals Guide to Stopping Climate Change

337 Pages·2007·3.03 MB·English

GOODALL_FINAL_2[WHITE].pdf 11/10/07 12:34:37
‘is is the definitive guide to reducing your carbon footprint.’ NEW SCIENTIST
‘If you’re fed up with reading about all the little things you can do
for the planet and fancy getting stuck into some proper green
living, this is the book for you.’
Your Environment, Environment Agency UK
‘An excellent, practical and reassuring guidebook to the most
important isue on everybody’s to-do list this year. Why not buy how to live a
a few and distribute them to your friends next time they wring
their hands and ask “What can I do?”’
Green World
‘Valuable ammunition for those who want to do something about global warming.
The carbon-aware future is coming. Godal is a pioner, and is doing a god job of low-carbon
taking us with him.’
Guardian
the individual’s guide to
Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity: drastic reduction of carbon
life stopping climate change
emissions is vital if we are to avoid a catastrophe that devastates large parts of the
world. Governments and businesses have been slow to act and individuals now need
C Chris Goodall
to take the lead.
M
The Earth can absorb no more than 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year
Y
for every person on the planet if we are to keep temperature and rainfall change
CM within tolerable limits. Yet fro
m cars and holiday flights to household appliances and
MY the food on our plates, Western consumer lifestyles leave each of us responsible for
CY over 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – four times what the Earth can handle.
CMY Individual action is essential if we want to avoid climate chaos. How to Live a Low-
K Carbon Life shows how easy it is to take responsibility, providing the first
comprehensive, one-stop reference g uide to calculating your CO2 emisions and 1.8 0.1 2.1
reducing them to a sustainable 3 tonnes a year. tonnes tonnes tonnes
Chris Goodall is chair of telecommunications software company Dynmark
International, a member of the UK Competition Commission and Utilities Appeal
Panel, and the Green Party’s Parliamentary Candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon.
He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a former director of Which? Ltd.
0.1 1.2 0.3
tonnes tonnes tonnes
www.lowcarbonlife.net I S B N 978-1-84407-426-6
www.earthscan.co.uk
Climate change / Environment / Ethical living 9 7 8 1 8 4 4 0 7 4 2 6 6 1.2 0.1 0.1
tonnes tonnes tonnes
how to live a low-carbon life Goodall
how to live a
low-carbon
life
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half title & title page1.indd 2 20/12/06 11:00:28
how to live a
low-carbon
the individual’s guide to
life stopping climate change
Chris Goodall
London • Sterling, VA
half title & title page1.indd 3 20/12/06 11:00:28
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First published by Earthscan in the UK and USA in 2007
Reprinted 2007 (three times)
Copyright © Chris Goodall, 2007
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-1-84407-426-6
Typeset by Domex e-Data Pvt. Ltd, India
Printed and bound in the UK by Antony Rowe, Chippenham
Cover design by Safehouse Creative
For a full list of publications please contact:
Earthscan
8-12 Camden High Street
London, NW1 0JH, UK
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email:
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Contents
List of Figures and Tables vii
Sources and Units of Measurement xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction: Getting from 12½ Tonnes to 3 Tonnes
of Carbon Dioxide per Person 1
1 The Extraordinary Cheapness of Fossil Fuels 11
2 The Scope for Government Action 25
3 The Inadequacy of Alternative Means of Reducing Emissions 43
4 No One Else Is Doing Much, So You’d Better
Do Something Yourself 57
5 How Our Lives Generate Emissions and What
We Can Do about It 71
6 Home Heating 81
7 Water Heating and Cooking 115
8 Lighting 123
9 Household Appliances 135
10 Car Travel 175
11 Public Transport 211
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vi HOW TO LIVE A LOW-CARBON LIFE
12 Air Travel 217
13 Food 229
14 Other Indirect Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions 247
15 Domestic Use of Renewable Energy 255
16 Cancelling Out Emissions 275
17 Conclusions 285
Afterword 289
Appendix: Sources of the Main Averages 293
Notes 297
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations 311
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List of Figures and Tables
FIGURES
6.1 One calculation of sources of heat for the
average gas-fired home 88
6.2 Energy balance for home heating of the typical house 99
6.3 Average internal temperatures in UK homes 110
10.1 Simplified decision tree for assistance in assessing
whether to buy a new car and, if so, what type 179
10.2 What are the carbon dioxide savings from using a liquid
petroleum gas-powered car? 187
10.3 The savings from switching to liquid petroleum gas 188
10.4 Average weight of English men aged 45 to 54 (1992–2004) 192
15.1 Monthly energy output from a solar photovoltaic
system in Oxford 271
TABLES
5.1 Direct greenhouse gas emissions of the typical UK individual 74
5.2 Getting direct greenhouse gas emissions to 3 tonnes 75
5.3 Direct greenhouse gas emissions: Standard figures
for personal calculations 76
5.4 Lowered direct emissions from a three-person household 77
5.5 Cancelling out indirect emissions 78
6.1 Measures to reduce carbon emission from home heating 84
6.2 How gas usage for heating may vary with type of house 86
6.3 Average annual heating need for England and Wales, 2005 89
6.4 Efficiency estimates for non-condensing gas-fired systems 91
6.5 Gas savings from replacing a typical boiler with a
condensing variety 91
6.6 Savings from installing a condensing gas boiler 92
6.7 Cost per tonne of carbon dioxide avoided 93
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viii HOW TO LIVE A LOW-CARBON LIFE
6.8 Loss of heat from elements of the typical house 98
6.9 The cost of heat losses 100
6.10 Very approximate gas usage savings from installing
cavity wall insulation 102
6.11 Potential savings from cavity wall insulation 102
6.12 Costs of cavity wall insulation 103
7.1 Gas demand for water heating in the typical household 118
8.1 Summary of potential savings in lighting use 126
8.2 Distribution of light bulb usage in a typical house 127
8.3 Comparison of the main types of lighting 130
9.1 Electricity use by the major home appliances 138
9.2 Number of washes in a typical UK home 139
9.3 Comparison of tumble dryers with and
without a heat pump 146
9.4 Approximate figures for electricity consumption
of typical cold appliances 151
9.5 Getting the best possible energy efficiency from
fridge freezers, refrigerators and freezers 153
9.6 The costs of boiling water 158
9.7 Power consumption for a full-size conventional TV 160
9.8 Power consumption for a typical 32 inch LCD TV 160
9.9 Power consumptions of four small appliances 163
9.10 Toasting a piece of bread using electricity
or gas: A comparison 164
9.11 Power consumption in use and in standby mode 165
9.12 Energy consumption of consumer electronics 166
9.13 Energy usage by the four stereotypical households
for consumer electronics 167
10.1 The main options for reducing emissions from car travel 178
10.2 Estimate of average distance travelled per year
by UK private cars 181
10.3 How much carbon dioxide does the
Toyota Prius save? 185
10.4 Average new car emissions by year of manufacture 189
10.5 Impact of always walking rather than taking the car on
trips of up to 2 miles 191
10.6 How many miles of walking does it take to reduce
weight by 0.4kg a year? 193
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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ix
10.7 Energy balance from walking rather than driving
if the energy replacement is from dairy products 194
10.8 Carbon dioxide emissions of Toyota petrol cars, early 2006 196
10.9 Some pricing details of two UK car clubs 199
10.10 Comparison of costs of leasing a car and using
the car club Streetcar 202
10.11 The carbon dioxide impact of switching to 5 per cent biodiesel 207
12.1 Carbon dioxide emissions by a typical
UK individual taking no flights 219
12.2 The impact on personal carbon dioxide emissions of a
small number of flights 219
13.1 The main sources of greenhouse gas emissions
in the UK food chain 233
13.2 Ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
from the food chain 242
13.3 Remaining greenhouse gas emissions after major
switches to purchasing behaviour 243
13.4 Remaining greenhouse gas emissions after moderate
switches to purchasing behaviour 244
13.5 Produce consumed in a typical middle-class UK
household throughout the year 246
14.1 Greenhouse gas emissions from industry 251
15.1 Summary of the costs and benefits of renewable energy 258
15.2 Number of litres of water heated by the sun in late June 260
15.3 Standard data for a small solar hot water collector
of 2 square metres 261
15.4 Savings from use of solar hot water 262
15.5 Savings from a 4 square metre collector 262
15.6 Savings in carbon dioxide from using a
solar hot water collector 263
15.7 Typical savings per year from installing a
solar hot water collector 263
15.8 Estimated annual savings from installing a
Renewable Devices turbine 266
16.1 Electricity prices for a home in Oxford 279
16.2 Cost of establishing 1 hectare of woodland 281