when Zero means Zero

Zero is a word that we hear a lot these days. Zero emissions the badge on the back of a Nissan Leaf proudly proclaims. Zero carbon energy suggest some fans of renewable or nuclear energy. Net zero emissions say the politicians.

When it comes to climate warming potential or localised pollution impact, zero is clearly a good thing.

But just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as zero carbon energy generation. I say this as all generation of material amounts of electricity and liquid/gaseous biofuel involves the initial consumption of concrete, steel, aluminium, petroleum and - often produced using fossil fuel - electricity. Wind turbines sit atop massive (largely hidden) concrete foundations, solar panels typically take decades to repay the embedded electricity, and nuclear plants involve astonishing amounts of alloys produced in coal-fired furnaces. 

'Zero emissions' vehicles are true in that they emit no nitrogen oxides ('NOX'), carbon monoxide or soot particulates. But they still emit tyre particles and the electricity that fills their batteries will most likely have emitted some carbon into the atmosphere (unless you live in Iceland or Norway) when it was generated. Plus, the mining and processing of the ton of minerals in their batteries typically involved huge amounts of fossil fuels being burnt.

Okay, so I am not advocating a return to the Stone Age. But I suggesting that the only way to minimise 'zero' losing its currency is to mininise our consumption of energy. The lowest impact kilowatt hour or cubic litre/meter of fuel is the one that you avoid being produced. 

Negawatts, not megawatts.

The mile that you walked or cycled, instead of taking the car.

The light that you switched off, maybe by a timeswitch or PIR sensor, or the 5W LED lamp that replaced the old 35/50W halogen ones in your kitchen or bathroom.

The dishes or clothes that you washed in a A++ appliance that you bought to replace the one that died.

The AA batteries that you recharged hundreds of times, rather than the hundreds of alkaline ones that thanks to you never got made or recycled.

The kilo of stuff that I didn't pack in my suitcase.

The kilowatt hour of natural gas that my boiler/furnace never consumed, because I bought some more loft insulation (made from old plastic bottles!) from the DIY/hardware store.

The resuable drinks cup, made from mega-compressed wood, or my water bottle, that I've used for the last few years.

The TV show that I watch on my set-top box's hard drive, rather than streamed from the hugely aircon-cooled iPlayer/Netflix servers.

Now, I'm no saint. I drive a diesel car, and a diesel train gets me to work. I have been known to board a plane once every few years.

But by thinking a little bit, we can avoid consuming some electrons and molecules, and if each of us avoided 5-10% then we'd need to build less production capacity. And that means less metal, concrete and so on. And we'd save a stack of cash and tax!

Good luck and thanks for reading!