And of those 5% who will actually follow through? There’s a 0% chance that these countries ever willingly use less energy, as that would be a detrimental blow to their economy. And yeah “solar panels exist” but that only accounts for electricity, and the world still produces over 80% of energy from high carbon sources. Plus we basically require fossil fuels to build the materials needed for “low carbon renewables” like solar panels and wind turbines.
I can’t speak for everywhere, but the UK has recently banned the approval of any more North Sea oil drilling, approved several zero carbon energy projects, and is changing planning permission so that people won’t be able to block onshore wind and energy infrastructure projects. They’re also doing an ICE car ban 5 years earlier than the EU (2030).
Then there’s a bunch of new standards for new homes built (e.g. gas boilers not allowed anymore), grants for improving home energy efficiency, and a few other policies like that.
The UK has done a pretty great job so far of decarbonising. Despite having more technology and a population 17% higher, the UK uses less energy now than in 2002. So the UK has been willingly using less energy for years now already. Additionally, the grid has went from being mostly coal and gas to 72% emission-free, with coal being completely eradicated.
There will still be difficulty, though. Most homes in the UK use gas central heating, and since the UK has the oldest housing stock on planet earth by a considerable margin, most houses aren’t suited for air or ground source heat pumps. I truly don’t know what the answer is for that in regards to net zero.
For anyone wondering who the 5% are:
UK
Switzerland
USA (though this will probably be reversed or ignored under Trump)
Andorra
United Arab Emirates (wait, really?)
Ecuador
Brazil
Uruguay
St Lucia
New Zealand
They had COP28 in Dubai.
Lol I’d be surprised if my country (Switzerland) follows through. We keep voting down any climate proposals.
And of those 5% who will actually follow through? There’s a 0% chance that these countries ever willingly use less energy, as that would be a detrimental blow to their economy. And yeah “solar panels exist” but that only accounts for electricity, and the world still produces over 80% of energy from high carbon sources. Plus we basically require fossil fuels to build the materials needed for “low carbon renewables” like solar panels and wind turbines.
I can’t speak for everywhere, but the UK has recently banned the approval of any more North Sea oil drilling, approved several zero carbon energy projects, and is changing planning permission so that people won’t be able to block onshore wind and energy infrastructure projects. They’re also doing an ICE car ban 5 years earlier than the EU (2030).
Then there’s a bunch of new standards for new homes built (e.g. gas boilers not allowed anymore), grants for improving home energy efficiency, and a few other policies like that.
The UK has done a pretty great job so far of decarbonising. Despite having more technology and a population 17% higher, the UK uses less energy now than in 2002. So the UK has been willingly using less energy for years now already. Additionally, the grid has went from being mostly coal and gas to 72% emission-free, with coal being completely eradicated.
There will still be difficulty, though. Most homes in the UK use gas central heating, and since the UK has the oldest housing stock on planet earth by a considerable margin, most houses aren’t suited for air or ground source heat pumps. I truly don’t know what the answer is for that in regards to net zero.
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