Views & Opinion
COP28 and save the planet? What are we waiting for… we can start now!
Comment by PAUL JONES, Country Director UK & Ireland, B.E.G. UK
The UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, better known as COP28, ended in December and as the curtain came down on the event its ‘headline statement’ was that the first international agreement was made to tackle climate change’s main driver – fossil fuels.
For the first time, at its 28th gathering, it also held a ‘global stocktake’ whereby it assessed progress to tackle climate change around the world, while providing direction for countries’ next round of climate commitments.
Aside from the fossil fuels declaration, a second COP28 commitment centred on tripling the world’s renewable energy generation capacity to at least 11,000 gigawatts by 2030. Impressively, 120 countries signed up to this pledge although it does have to be pointed out that it took 12 years from 2010 to 2022 to succeed in the last tripling of renewable capacity. This time countries have less than eight years.
COP28 also covered a wide range of climate issues including energy, transport and nature, whilst attempting to provide some direction for the next conference in 2025. There was said to be significant process towards making new commitments to reducing methane emission and creating more sustainable food systems and doing more to protect forestry for example.
However, it remained largely unclear how the countries – and indeed the world – are going to pay for such a comprehensive switch to this ‘massive clean energy transition’ which COP is committed to. This brings me to the summit’s third commitment – one destined to have implications for hydrocarbons and boosting energy efficiency. Referred to as the ‘first fuel’ in clean energy language, it essentially means making efficient and smart use of energy. Governments are already encouraging the use of electric cars with tax breaks for example and also financial support with households looking to install heat pumps but there are common concerns for both. Some drivers are cautious about electric cars because some only have limited battery range, the battery lifespan itself is a concern, the infrastructure – certainly in the UK - is not there yet and there may be long charging times. Campaigners still need to ‘win’ over some road users regarding the potential impact creating the lithium battery may have on the environment, but overall electric cars produce zero emissions and are recognised as being cheaper to maintain over the lifetime of the vehicle. They are also extremely quiet and can outperform petrol-powered vehicles.
The Government also faces some resistance to heat pumps due to the high upfront cost, the complexities involved in installing
one, wider sustainability implications in some of the fluids used for heat transfer, while electricity usage will increase. However, on the whole heat pumps are considered one of the most energy efficient alternative to fuel, oil and electric systems, they improve air quality, should be extremely reliable, can produce warm air and water and are supported by Government grants.
As outlined – both electric cars and heat pumps face obstacles right now as it stands, mostly because the infrastructure itself is not there yet to support either of them. There are not enough electric vehicle charging points and not even enough installers to install the heat pumps (currently around 3,000 and experts calculate the UK needs 27,000 by 2028 to hit current Government targets. However, what seems to have been somewhat overlooked at COP28 is what Governments, organisations, businesses – and indeed schools – can do NOW to become more energy efficient to cut emissions, lower energy bills and bolster energy security. Global efficiency rates could be vastly improved if countries followed the best practises from around the world.
I’ve spent a large proportion of my working career advocating lighting controls in schools – and this is something that can be put in place today with no barriers. To get the very best out of school’s lighting, it must be considered how the whole system is controlled. Automated lighting control systems ensure that only the correct amount of light is used in classrooms – and more importantly, when it is needed. This will not only reduce energy usage resulting in lower electricity bills for schools, but it also means making a difference with a smaller carbon footprint. Limiting the energy consumption for each luminaire will also allow the light to last for longer with fewer replacements needed.
Lighting controls systems tend to use three types of sensor or controllers to make the lighting in a school building. This includes timed controls to manage the on/off timing of the lights which are manually set but can be overridden at time, light sensors which measure the light through windows and then calculate how much light is required to support it and present the necessary levels of light and, lastly motion sensors that detect students, teachers or staff entering or exiting a room whereby the lighting control system can active and deactivate light accordingly.
One of the most impressive benefits of a lighting control system is its ability to pre-configure lighting scenes for maximum energy efficiency. There are, of course, other benefits to such systems such as improving the safety and security of a school and enhanced convenience for end users – for example the lighting controls can be operated via a smartphone or tablet by the school’s facilities management team.
The next climate summit takes place at Azerbaijan for COP29 and is one that really needs to start delivering results, but we should be looking at the things we can also do NOW to improve boost energy efficiency – such as investigating how lighting control systems can benefit schools - rather than just technologies that still have a little way to go yet.
20
www.education-today.co.uk
March 2024
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