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SERIES 23 / Module 02 Net Zero


Context for net zero A


s a general principle, it makes sense to develop an intuitive understanding of a challenge before trying to tackle it.


Without doing this, it is hard to grasp the level of change required and to verify whether requests made by others are reasonable or not. A good example of grappling


with these sorts of themes is the ambition laid out in the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement, which aims to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”. Turning this ambition into an


actionable target, the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) lays out an emission reduction pathway to support leadership towards a 1.5 degree future. Against a 2020 baseline year, and before allowing any offsetting, The SBTi asks signatories to set emission reduction targets of: ● at least 42% by 2030, and ● 90% by 2050. This scale of change can be hard to


internalise and to put in context. For this reason, it can help to


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develop an intuitive grasp of the size of the planet relative to human activities, as a preamble into discussions of net zero plans. Doing so helps to place net zero


targets in context and can alleviate some of the initial ‘shock’ as to the scale of change required.


photographic award’. This image confirms that, although


by Gareth Veal, Energy and Net Zero: Strategy, engineering, training, & delivery CEng PhD MSc MEI CEPH (Passivhaus designer)


Seeking an intuitive grasp of planetary scale. There are numerous environmental accounting discussions, stating things like ‘if we all lived an American lifestyle, we’d need four planets’. Although these assertions are rooted in sound scientific study, they can be somewhat difficult to engage with and to relate to on a personal level. There are arguably too many layers of assumptions and calculations that are hidden, for it to be easy to trust the headlines instinctively. One way that can help to give


a more intuitive understanding of the scale of the planet is through the image below, which won the 2004 ‘Telegraph Visions of Science


Fig.1


the planet feels vast, it is actually only covered in an extremely thin membrane of life-supporting water and air. Everything we do and everyone we know is sustained by this thin film of life. The picture shows the water and air gathered up into spheres, as opposed to spread over the earth’s surface. A useful reference point in terms


of scale is that the diameter of the earth is ~12,500 km, which compares surprisingly with: ● the thickness of the atmosphere: the majority of the air is contained within the first 16km,


● the deepest part of the ocean, at around 11km. Converting this diameter to the


earth’s circumference, you get ~40,000km. Weigh this against the average annual distance covered by a UK driver, at around 6,000km per


All the water in the world –


including seawater, ice, lakes, rivers, ground water & clouds


All the air in the world gathered into a ball at sea-level density


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