I liked this book, not so much for its contents, but because it made me think about CO2 emissions and ways to solve climate change.
The book basically explains the carbon footprint of many everyday activities and products. It starts with things that have very low emissions, like sending an email, and ends with things that have the highest emissions, like plane travel. It also explains what the average CO2 emissions of a UK citizen are and how they are divided. It turns out that food, accommodation and travel account for roughly 25% of the yearly emissions of a UK citizen. The yearly emissions are about 12.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
The book does not go very deep into detail on how the emissions for every example are computed, but gives a good overview and reasoning behind the final numbers. I especially liked that the book addresses some common misconceptions and explains concepts that people may be unfamiliar with.
One example is the concept of marginal emissions related to electricity production. I cannot remember how many times I have heard that because most electricity in Norway comes from hydro-power, using extra electricity has almost no impact on CO2 emissions. This is wrong. Using extra electricity in Norway causes less electricity to be available for export to other countries, like Germany and the UK, that depend more heavily on fossil fuels. The extra electricity needed in those countries when less electricity is available from Norway comes from the least efficient, most polluting plants. Therefore, using some extra electricity in Norway is very likely to generate emissions from a coal-fired power plant.
Another thing that I liked is the mention that, at least in some rich countries, CO2 emissions and economic growth have decoupled. It is no longer the case that more economic activity generates more emissions. This is a good thing and shows that de-growth is not necessary to curb emissions.
It is obvious in hindsight, but I never thought that wars contribute to CO2 emissions. They are among the most polluting activities considered in the book along with global deforestation. I have heard the argument that Norway should stop drilling for oil because other producers, especially Saudi Arabia, can produce oil with lower emissions. As far as oil is needed, goes the argument, we should prioritize sources with the lowest emissions. This argument for Saudi oil loses its merit if we consider how Norway and Saudi Arabia use their oil revenues. Norway promotes global peace and diplomacy means as a mean to solve conflicts. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, contributes to destabilizing the Middle East and has been fighting a war in Yemen since 2015, worsening the ongoing humanitarian crisis. It is clear, then, that the total emissions from Norwegian oil are lower than Saudi Arabia's. I consider that the suffering that Saudi Arabia is causing in Yemen is reason enough to welcome alternative oil sources independently of their CO2 emissions, but even those who consider CO2 emissions above anything else, should think twice.
I found the book useful although I don't care about its proposal of a personal CO2 budget. My opinion is that climate change should be addressed via a CO2 tax and through political means, not by scaring or shaming individual citizens into reducing their emissions.
Trivia fact: Mike Berners-Lee is the brother of Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and son of Mary Lee Berners-Lee a mathematician and pioneer computer scientist. His father was a mathematician and computer scientist too.
Last updated: 2025-02-28