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To deliver significant cuts in carbon emissions, radical changes in society and behaviour are required. To create this change, we need to develop the infrastructure which underpins our daily lives and economic activity so that the only choices we make are low carbon ones.
Infrastructure is designed to meet demand from individuals, homes, industry and transport.
Reducing demand and increasing efficiency will directly reduce the need for infrastructure and thereby its carbon content and the emissions generated by its use.
Measures that encourage conscious choices by users can help manage demand. Smart metering for water and power will give consumers the
information they need to use resources more efficiently. This can deliver wide benefits. For example, in the energy sector, transmission losses between the power plant and the user mean that demand reductions at the point of use lead to even greater reductions in fuel use and CO2 emissions at the point of generation.
However over time low carbon behaviour and infrastructure must cease to be a choice and become the norm.
Our evidence suggests that this kind of systemic change requires firm government intervention, backed by new and upgraded infrastructure. An example where this approach has worked is the waste management sector, where a combination of clear targets, Landfill Tax and threats of fines for local authorities has slowed the growth of waste and increased recycling and reuse. This change is underpinned by new infrastructure to sort, recover, reprocess and extract energy from waste. (See Landfill Tax case study below).
The low carbon world will require more changes like this. For example, transport infrastructure is driven by demand for travel and this is increasing. Public transport with lower-carbon power sources must play a greater role in moving people and goods around the UK. But demand management measures such as workplace parking limits and road user charging will be required to make using public transport the norm. Small changes can be made by reducing the need to travel by means such as the integration of homes and jobs, remote working and video-conferencing.
However, major change requires major shifts in spatial planning and social norms. If even half of private car trips switch to public transport, the existing infrastructure would fail, highlighting the need to invest in low carbon forms of public transport now.
The provision of efficient surface transport systems as an alternative to short haul domestic air travel will only lead to behavioural change if
financial measures such as increased air tax are in place to encourage use of the alternatives.
Change on this scale will be controversial. Government and the engineering profession will need to be open and honest about the downsides, including (in some areas) the reduction in personal choice. If the low carbon transition is not to be beset by legal challenge and protest, public and political consensus will need to be created. At the heart of any such consensus is a proper understanding, by all those involved, of the realistic options for achieving our goals.
Developing deliverable options for real world problems is a core engineering skill. So it is vital that the engineering profession places itself at the heart of the political process and wider public debate.
"If we are serious about 80% by 2050, we are going to have to make some radical changes to behaviour now...One of the best ways of cutting carbon out of the economy is to reduce…consumption rather than trying to increase efficiency."
Peter Guthrie OBE, Professor in Engineering for Sustainable Development , University of Cambridge
Low carbon behaviour case study: landfill tax
The Landfill Tax has changed behaviour by encouraging waste producers to produce less waste and divert valuable material from landfill into recycling, composting, energy from waste and more environmentally friendly methods of waste disposal.
The tax puts a cost on the environmental impact of landfilling waste, not least methane emissions, which is an even more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. It is paid on top of normal landfill or `gate´ fees by businesses and local authorities that want to dispose of waste using a landfill site.
There are two rates of tax:
- A standard rate for wastes which decay, such as household wastes. This is currently £40 per tonne and is set to increase by £8 per tonne each year until at least 2013
- A lower rate for inactive and inert wastes such as rocks and soil – currently £2.50 per tonne
Waste reduction has been relatively successful now that tax levels have risen above £35 per tonne and further rises will be more effective at creating drastic changes. At landfill sites registered for the tax, overall quantities of waste recorded fell by 25% from around 96 million tonnes in 1997-98 to around 72 million tonnes in 2005-061.
As landfill tax rates have risen, waste companies and technology providers are building systems to deliver renewable energy and supply alternative disposal routes to landfill.
The tax reflects the significant impact that landfill has on the environment. By ensuring that waste producers incorporate the full cost of waste
disposal into business decisions, landfill tax encourages the development of sustainable waste management options, including recycling and advanced thermal treatment with energy recovery.
1 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2009) BIS Economics Paper No.1: Towards a Low Carbon Economy – Economic Analysis and Evidence for a Low Carbon Industrial Strategy
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