Global warming and climate change represent a real threat to the environment and our civilization here on the planet.
Climate change is caused by our daily activities involving the use of fossil fuels for energy and heat generation, to run our vehicles and to power our homes and companies, etc.
All these human activities that release greenhouse gas emissions are polluting the air, soil and water, and are increasing the global temperatures every decade.
If we don’t do something to stop this process, climate change can eventually lead to catastrophic events, which can turn this planet into a place that is very hostile to life.
Many people consider that is already too late and we can’t stop climate change from destroying the planet, however, the latest advancements in technology have shown us that we have the power to stop climate change.
How Can Companies Reduce Their Impact On The Environment?
There are four steps to cut the carbon footprint of your business today by more than 60%.
As a company, it isn’t enough to replace the light bulbs, and the old devices with smart and more efficient ones. This should be done automatically to pay less on energy bills.
To really reduce the impact of your business on the environment you can do the following: use a carbon emission management software, use a renewable energy source to power your company, switch to electric vehicles, and use clean energy or a carbon neutral resource for heating during the winter.
1. Carbon Emission Management Software
A carbon emissions management software uses a platform designed to comprehensively measure the carbon emissions of your company in real time.
The software can help you set targets for your company, control the execution and achieve your corporate carbon neutrality goals much sooner.
2. Use A Renewable Energy Source To Power Your Company
Another way to reduce the carbon footprint of your business, is to install a solar PV system, a wind turbine or other form of renewable energy (geothermal). This way you will consume mainly clean energy produced from renewables and less energy from the grid (which is usually produced from fossil fuels).
Having your own power plant installed on the roof or in the backyard of your company, will make you less dependent on the utility company. This is beneficial for the environment and for your company as well (decreased energy costs).
3. Switch To Electric Vehicles
If your company uses conventional vehicles, try to replace them with electric vehicles.
Less vehicles with internal combustion engine on the road, less fossil carbon in the atmosphere.
Vehicles with internal combustion engine should be replace with electric vehicles, image source: pixabay.com
The greater the number of vehicles replaced, the greater the effect on climate change.
4. Use Clean Energy Or A Carbon Neutral Heating Source
If you want to use only electricity to heat your company during the winter, you can use AC units with inverter, heat pumps or electric space heaters.
All these systems produce heat without releasing emissions, but they consume a pretty large amount of power every month.
If you can produce that energy from solar panels, wind turbines or using a geothermal resource, you won’t use energy from the grid that much, which will mean no emissions and reduced power bills (improved efficiency).
However, if you prefer to burn something, replace the heating oil used by now with biodiesel (a carbon neutral fuel).
If you used coal by now, replace it with wood or energy crops (biomass). Wood is a carbon neutral fuel only if it’s sourced sustainably.
Don’t forget that trees are big consumers of carbon, so if you cut them down you will only increase the greenhouse effect on the planet, but not due to the smoke produced when burning the wood, rather due to the fact that you have reduced the number of carbon consumers.
Instead of cutting down trees, it is better to plant new trees every year because more trees means less carbon and more oxygen.
Green Carbon vs. Fossil Carbon
The atmosphere on planet Earth has almost always contained carbon dioxide (CO2) because this gas is responsible for the natural greenhouse gas effect that keeps us from freezing.
Carbon dioxide is also used in the carbon cycle, which is a natural process of the Earth and acted over time as a thermostat by regulating temperatures on the planet.
The carbon cycle also allows complex life forms like us, animals, birds, etc., to exist here on the planet.
We breathe in oxygen, and breathe out carbon dioxide, while plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. This process is crucial to keeping carbon dioxide at normal levels on the planet and this is what we call ‘green carbon’.
The Carbon Cycle on Planet Earth
The carbon cycle on our planet works like this.
Green plants capture carbon (CO2) from the atmosphere and store energy from the Sun. Animals eat the plants to take that carbon and energy from plants. Animals are also made of carbon and energy from the Sun, but they get this energy by eating the plants.
Predators eat the animals that feed on plants taking the same carbon and energy from the Sun from the previous animal.
When an animal dies naturally (is not consumed by another), the carbon and the energy from the Sun stored in its body is released into the atmosphere again to restart the carbon cycle (through the decomposition process).
Decomposition balances the carbon cycle on our planet, and makes sure that the carbon that goes in, comes back out again on the other side.
This is a closed loop that circulated the carbon from one side to the other.
The same carbon cycle takes place every day in the ocean, in the soil and in the air.
What is Fossil Carbon?
Green carbon is the carbon that’s supposed to be here to sustain life processes on the planet, without causing climate change.
However, we can’t say the same thing about fossil carbon.
We call ‘fossil carbon’ the carbon released when burning fossil fuels. This is the carbon that causes climate change.
Fossil carbon is carbon stored in plants and animals that died millions of years ago.
If we release that fossil carbon today, we automatically increase the greenhouse effect on the planet.
The carbon released in the atmosphere while burning fossil fuels has nowehere to go, because it can’t join the carbon cycle again (it is a closed loop), so fossil carbon remains in the atmosphere where increases the greenhouse effect, acidifies the oceans and leads to climate change.
Conclusion
The only way to stop climate change on planet Earth, is to stop using fossil fuels by replacing them with renewable energy.
Once we do that, the environment has a change to recover.
