I’m not an expert, but there’s not a cat-in-hells chance of achieving carbon neutral by 2025. The Gov doesn’t have a plan yet for 2050. This doesn’t help the protesters’ credibility but their attempts at raising awareness is to be applauded imho.
Carbon neutrality, I think, would certainly mean an end to petrol and diesel cars ( currently scheduled for 2040), an end to gas boilers in domestic homes etc, plus lots of carbon negative initiatives to offset the ridiculously polluting air industry. The UK’s propensity to welcome air travel (eg. another Heathrow runway) will only make this tougher for the UK.
The carbon neutrality concept is, IIRC, all linked to the aim of halting global temperature rise.
Carbon neutrality … how would you achieve this?
Electric cars / transport still need electricity generated somewhere / some how. Nuclear! Many would say ‘not near where I live’
Electric passenger planes … not in my lifetime.
Household power.
All the Naim amps etc left on cos powerdown screws sound quality
The list goes on but …
What about the poor old cows out in the field, happily munching away at the fresh green grass. Farting their asses off and causing a significant amount of greenhouse gasses to enter the atmosphere.
It ain’t going to happen people
It is indeed, Nigel, and is something for one’s individual conscience, trying not to be wasteful, and also reducing one’s carbon footprint, where possible.
I was simply questioning the virtue signalling aspect so evident in Society today, when many of those indulging possibly do very little to apply the philosophy within their own lives.
Besides, as @raym55 mentions above, the lines seem to be somewhat blurred as to what is exactly an effective strategy and I feel that we can’t really rely on Governments to come up with many meaningful solutions, based on their progress thus far. They seem universally to be paying little more than lip service to the entire problem.
They have endless international talking shops on the subject, yet many of the participants, e.g. Germany and Poland continue blindly with substantial levels of coal fired power generation.
One of the themes of the protestations is that we should all turn vegetarian or vegan for greater food efficiency, and indeed resolve the cow methane issue (expect to see cows in small numbers in reserves as protected species…)
And whilst raising general awareness may have merit, the protestors May be better moving the focus of their protest to places where it will have most effect - governments, of course in other countries not just UK.
Nothing mentioned in the post you referenced would, on the scale described, have the slightest benefit on the scale of the problem as it exists today … except one … depopulation.
Exactly what I was thinking… cows aren’t the issue… it’s people… we need fewer of us and more trees and vegetation to ingest the green house gases… and as we go about doing that which may take many decades we need to consciously and significantly pollute less.
I did my microscopic contribution… I needed a new lawnmower as the previous petrol engine failed after 20 years and was not practical to repair. The metal was recycled, and I bought an electric cordless mower for my 3/4 acre… which also cuts whilst protecting daisies and dandelions etc which bees and insects need this time of year.
How do you reconcile the view (fact?) that the UK’s impact on global warming is insignificant when compared to the impact of (say) India and China? If indeed you agree with that view …
What an odd reply. Strange in that disagreeing with them would be tantamount to supporting environmental catastrophe. I dont think for one minute that’s really your view though
Earlier in this thread you asked what they were protesting about and I answered in all good faith and to the best of my knowledge.
Of course it’s a global problem, there is only one planet. There is nothing to be reconciled imho.
Think on this though. Over the next 30 years the planet will be constructing buildings on a scale equivalent to Paris each and every week. That’s about 200 billion m2. That is staggering and will generate immense carbon emissions. If engineers in the UK (for example) find ways to reduce those emissions by using innovative materials, techniques etc. The UK’s impact on global warming (for the good) will be far from “insignificant”.
One might well disagree with their method of protest, without necessarily being considered “strange”, surely?
Otherwise, we’re easing gently towards the scenario that “my point of view is the only one” and thence into the “no platforming” strategy, so beloved by a great many of today’s activists.
I think you should look again at the context of my original reply to dayjay where I said this Dave. I believe you have strayed off the context perhaps.
I’ll leave it there
