What are carbon emissions?
Carbon, it’s everywhere. No really, it’s in the screen you’re looking at, in the food we eat and the air we breathe! So why is it that, if you’ve watched the news in the last 5 years, you’ll have heard about Carbon as if it’s a bad thing?
Carbon Emissions
“Carbon Emissions” or your “carbon footprint” are phrases used commonly in the news and media, but do you really know what they mean? It’s a big part of what we do here at Evolve, so we thought we would help you out by giving you a quick breakdown of these terms.
Carbon emissions, specifically carbon dioxide, or CO2, is naturally released into the atmosphere in lots of ways. The largest source of natural carbon emissions is from the exchange of carbon dioxide between the oceans and the atmosphere. Animals and plants also emit CO2 through the process of respiration (breathe in oxygen, breathe out CO2). And, when these plants and animals decompose, organisms within the soil emit more CO2 into the atmosphere.
Nature tends to keep most of these emissions in balance. Plants absorb CO2 through photosynthesis, and oceans absorb just about as much carbon dioxide as they let off. Carbon cycles through our air, water, and soil in a continuous process that supports life on earth.
Unfortunately, as humans, we have not developed the same habit of offsetting our CO2 emissions as well as nature does. When we extract, refine, transport, and burn fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil, we release extra carbon and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. We also cut down large expanses of CO2-absorbing trees to make way for agriculture and new developments, or collect lumber to create new products, meaning we are effectively removing the natural systems that absorb and store carbon.*
Why are Carbon Emissions bad?
So why is it bad to have too much CO2 in the air? Carbon absorbs radiation and prevents heat from escaping our atmosphere. This excess heat creates disrupted weather patterns and other changes we are seeing in our climate.
So it would appear that reducing or offsetting those carbon emissions are an important way of ensuring we are doing our bit to help with the global climate crisis, and luckily for you, we can help with a number of measures you can implement in your own home.
Having a well-insulated home means less heat will be escaping into the atmosphere and that your heating system has to do less work to heat your house effectively. Having an efficient boiler is also a great way of ensuring your heating system isn’t being over-worked and using more energy than you need to. In 2019, by installing Energy Efficiency measures in homes across the UK, Evolve have saved an estimate 80,708 tonnes of carbon. That’s the equivalent of 321 return flights to Australia!
Evolve’s Carbon Savings 2019
Can Green Homes Grants help with this?
Our team of surveyors can assess your home and tell you about possible government grants you may be eligible for, so why not give them a call today for a free, no obligation, home survey – 0800 292 2554.
If you want to find out more about your carbon footprint, and the actions you can take to reduce it, you can take the “What is your ecological footprint?” quiz at https://www.footprintcalculator.org/.
Stay warm this winter, save money on your energy bills, and reduce your carbon footprint with Evolve.
0800 292 2554
Source:
Hannah Jones
Articles: 65
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