‘Historic’ Record low emissions reported International Energy Agency
Daily emissions of greenhouse gases have plunged by 17 percent by early April compared to 2019, in the UK. The International Energy Agency has even forecasted that the global electricity demand is set to decline by five percent this year. This is the largest drop in global electricity demands since the great depression in the 1930, according to the Business Green. Ever since lockdown, many have seen differences in our environment, from cleaner air to clearer seas — and have wondered how we can keep this momentum going post-lockdown, so we can tackle the climate crisis.
Energy Live News states the UK’s carbon emissions are now at 1888 levels’. To keep the world on track to stay under 1.5C in this century, we need a similar type of reduction in the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, we would want to reduce this figure more every year, if we want to truly tackle the climate crisis. The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fall for the seventh year in a row, so this can suggest that these improvements are being made. COVID19 is also playing a big factor in why emissions are still falling — it has even dented energy demand by 7 percent.
According to the Guardian, the average for renewable energy sources in the last three months of this year (December,January and February) was 37.4 percent, the highest ever recorded for this time of year. The UK power demand is 26.77GW (April 2020) compared to 32.05GW (April 2019). Also, gas-fired production is now 8.5GW from 13.3GW. Finally, coal generation was 140MW from 650MW in March and 390MW April. These numbers are showing that the lifestyle changes we have all made are simultaneously helping the planet too.
The Telegraph found out that the turn to renewable energy in the UK had led to more than 80 wind farms across England and Scotland being paid £9.3m, the highest they ever had by the National Grid. This could tell us that investing more in renewable energy sources is a lot easier than we would have imagined, as it was done quickly and the country still has the capacity to run.
One reason for lower emissions is due to the mild weather — this has prevented heating demand as the average temperature is 1.5℃ above the seasonal norm in London. Even though there is no need for heaters at the moment, since lockdown, our use of electricity at home has risen. Luckily, there still is an offset in demands by factories, construction sites and offices which counteracts the increase in home electricity use. This shows that a greener economy post-lockdown could help build the momentum in decreasing carbon emissions. This also reveals that if more people work from home, emissions would lower significantly — this means that emissions from traveling will lower too, as people do not need to make far journeys to work.
Business and leisure travel restrictions have further decreased carbon emissions. In addition, more people are working regionally, so this means less pollution from cars and public transport. This heavily reduces carbon emissions as the transportation industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Those examples show us how making conscious decisions as much as we can, will help fight the climate crisis. If emissions are lower, the CO2 produced is slower, this could really slow down the greenhouse gas effect.
In an interview, Mark Maslin, a professor of climatology, said “The real lesson of this pandemic is that we must globally shift our energy production away from fossil fuels”. We need to make the most of this moment and make sure we have plans and laws to enforce this in the future. This way we can be a part of a more environmental economy and not return to our high carbon emission ways. In an interview, Paul Morozzo, senior climate campaigner at Greenpeace UK said, “We should ensure the recovery is green”.
“This is not the way to tackle climate change” says Corinne Le Quéré who is a professor of climate change. Although quarantine rules have led to the “biggest annual drop in emissions since the Second World War,” Le Quéré said the impact has a “negligible impact on the Paris agreement.” Even if this feels like a time to celebrate the lower carbon emissions, we must still demand systemic change and a good green framework for after lockdown because behavioral changes are not enough. We need a long-lasting and sustainable change.
We can’t and hopefully shouldn’t have to rely on catastrophes like COVID19 to make us care about the planet, as the climate crisis is still ongoing throughout all of this and will not disappear when the threat of COVID19 has.
