As bad the situation might be, you don’t have to lose hope yet.

Indeed, there are solutions left to us. And here is one of them.

Did you know that in only one century, the average earth temperature has risen by over 1°C? To understand how catastrophic this is,
you’ve to consider that 20 000 years ago, this temperature was only 3 degrees lower than in the 1900s. Also, at that time, Europe was covered
in a kilometre-thick ice layer. We’ve seen a lot of other causes for climate change through the series. So now, it’s time to make a change. But
where to start and how? This question’s been bothering climate scientists for quite a while now. The solution explained in this article goes back
to Volker Quaschning, a climate scientist, and many other scientists who’ve made similar statements.
 Firstly, what’s climate change due to? This is a simple question to answer, greenhouse gasses. To lower the amount of these gasses in the
atmosphere, we could either compensate them (by planting trees, etc.) or reduce their emissions. For the latter, we’d need to stop burning things
like fossil fuels. So, this means that we’d either have to lower our energy consumption or find sustainable ways to produce it. Often, both are
considered simultaneously, which frightens many companies, who think they might be restricted in their activities. These companies therefore
often use lobbying (influencing the political votes using their economic authority) to stop laws about reducing emissions coming into force.
However, by replacing fossil fuels with green power, this problem would be solved.
The first advantage of this solution is that it’s effective, without harming the economy. Indeed, it doesn’t ask us to sacrifice our comfort
by lowering our consumption. It’ll only mean we’ll have to adjust the powering methods. For example, fuel motors will have to be replaced by
electric motors. But as electric motors are more efficient anyways, it’d be beneficial for companies on the long term. In fact, an electric car could
drive approximately 3 times further than a fuel one with the same input of energy. This brings us to the second advantage of this solution: we
have the technologies to power almost everything by electricity. For example, the heat pump would be an electric alternative to gas heating.
Finally, a global power network could give a better and more precise overview of emissions. Then, the energy production would be centralised,
whereas now, every car is an individual energy generator. Thus, the only possible emission source would be the power production itself, which
we could then focus on making carbon emission free. It’s like turning off one big tap instead of trying to turn off thousands of small taps at a
time.
Germany’s energy consumption:
Okay, so now we know that replacing fossil fuels by electricity would
be a good solution. However, we’d have to find ways to produce an
enormous amount of power with renewable energies, and we’re already
late. We’ve been shoving climate change under other problems like the
pandemic. So how do we begin? Take Germany, the amount of green energy
produced there’s less than 20%. But ideally, we need to reach 100%! Some
people might call nuclear power the solution. Trust me, it’s not. To power
everything with it, at the very least 15 nuclear reactors would have to be
built in Germany. However, nobody would like to have a huge, ugly,
radioactive concrete giant in their backyard, so where would we build them?
Also, building a reactor costs over 15 billion euros. And do we have the time
to write and read long expert’s reports, debate about the locations, argue
 with the locals, argue with environmentalists to then spend a decade on the building itself? To add to this, the German Institute for Geosciences
and Natural Resources estimates we’ve only got 30 years left of uranium, at current consumption, that’s to say. So, it isn’t a sustainable solution
anyway.
However, we now have other ways of producing power with almost no carbon emission. Volker Quaschning, who I mentioned in the
beginning, believes that wind turbines and solar panels will be the most useful solution in the process of turning energy green. Not only are they
relatively quick to build, but better designs have also allowed the windmills to produce more and more electricity over the years. Solar panels
have also become very efficient and durable. Now, they can last over 30 years. The good thing about solar panels is that, unlike wind turbines,
nobody complains about having them on their roof. So, there’s still plenty of space for them! There are also possibilities to incorporate them on
highways, fields, etc.

Evolution of the production capacity of windmills New concepts: solar panels on blinds
 However, it’s much easier to reduce our consumption than to try to match it with green energy. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce
our consumption that don’t require a loss of comfort. For example, a lot of buildings don’t have sufficient isolation. Only 12 centimetres of
isolation would keep 75% of the heat that usually heats the street outside your house inside! Or we could reduce the number of cars per
inhabitant in cities and extend public transport and promote bicycles instead. I don’t know about you, but personally, I always feel sarcastically
sorry when I ride past cars stuck in the traffic jam. Remaining cars could also be replaced by electric ones. These are simple possibilities, but
there’s an even simpler one, yet it seems very hard to understand for some people. Honestly, just stop buying all the crap you won’t ever really
need! Our wardrobes are already full! And what’s the point of buying the newest phone of company XY every year, when your old one is perfectly
fine! The worst is, people, and I include myself, do not even feel guilty about it anymore! Sorry. But what I mean, is that especially we, who can
afford it, should look on quality rather than price. Fast fashion was already discussed in this series; I won’t get into it again. But this is essential.
It should be on our mind wherever we go. You could go quite far in philosophical thoughts about the necessity of the material world if you want
to, actually.
But there’s one problem when wanting to make energy greener: most renewable energies
don’t produce power continuously. For example, solar panels won’t work unless there’s sunshine.
Therefore, we need storage systems. But the problem is that Lithium batteries, which are also
used in electric cars, require a lot of energy to craft. In fact, Lithium itself is mainly extracted by
evaporating sea water, which takes an immense amount of energy. Furthermore, some methods
to extract other components harm the environment. For example, in Congo, the rain forest is
being deforested to access cobalt ores, which is then extracted using quite a lot of harmful
chemical substances such as chlorinated lime, etc.
However, we know another way to store electricity. It consists in using electricity to
separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen gas can then later be burned to produce
power again. The advantage is that the gas infrastructure already exists for both transport and Cobalt mine in Congo. We can see the forest in
storage. Currently, it’s used for fossil gas mainly coming from Russia. For example, the biggest the background. But deforestation is only one
part of the problem: children labour, slavery and
pollution are usual in cobalt extraction.
 storage space in Germany has a volume of 4 km3, which, once full of gas, would be enough to cover
Germanys power supply for two weeks straight at current standards. This storage system would prevent
Europe from a huge energy shortage if Putin suddenly decided to turn off the tap. The inconvenience is
that the chemical process causes great energy losses.
So, we see that the solution of replacing all fossil fuels by green power is very appealing to the
economy and has great advantages for the population as well, as there will be no need to sacrifice any
comfort. However, it’ll be a long way till we achieve it, and there will have to be political decisions on
national and international scales. But we all know politics cannot change unless minds change. This is
where our role begins; this is why it’s so important to compromise with our comfort and our goals, this is
why we should accept a wind turbine being built near our houses or in a forest. Otherwise, we’ll have to
Outlines of Germany’s biggest gas storage face much worse, as you’ll see in the next article.
place. It doesn’t even bother people as it’s
underground!