| Topic: | Re:Car Use, Climate Change, Carbon Footprint | |
| Posted by: | Colin Potter | |
| Date/Time: | 22/09/21 18:36:00 |
| I saw on another thread that some people think that replacing a car is good for the environment. Getting rid of cars that are end of life might make a difference, but if they are being replaced we should think about what is replacing them and the carbon cost. I am not convinced that electric cars are any better because of the disposal of the batteries and instead of the car creating carbon emissions, the power plant does instead. It would be interesting if comparison numbers existed, I've not found any, but I didn’t look far. There are also computers, which is currently one of the worlds biggest carbon footprint problems because of its continued expansion. The server refrigeration has already created a helium shortage. With the internets continued expansion, it is a big problem that is only going to get worse. It is already as much as the carbon footprint of the entire aviation industry. The introduction of online supermarket shopping is unlikely to have any effect on our carbon footprint, if anything it will probably be worse. Anyone that previously walked, used the bus or cycled will have increased their carbon footprint by using a computer and having it delivered. Anyone that used a car is unlikely to make much difference, any saving by having multiple deliveries are lost by using a computer. If you were to close all supermarkets and have internet orders only, it would increase our carbon footprint. Shops would be replaced with warehouses any display refrigeration savings would be needed for servers. With no one able to walk to the shops, even deliveries by bike would be a huge increase in our carbon footprint. The only way to save the planet now is to switch off your computer. As things switch to online only, I would expect supermarkets to use a similar formula to electric bikes and claim their carbon footprint is lower because they employ less staff. |