Carbonaut

Friends, I gave a talk last week to the Richmond U3A – The University of the Third Age.

Disappointingly it was still a Zoom affair, but it appeared to be pass adequately.

After the talk I rashly thought I would run through it again and create a video presentation that I could share.

Having stared at my own face for several hours while trying every possible permutation of sound and video options in Windows™, I am no longer sure it was such a good idea.

But I’ve done it now. And as the saying goes, “I’ve suffered for my art, now it’s your turn…

You can download the Powerpoint file here.

The video of the presentation is in three parts, respectively 12, 16 and 24 minutes long.

Carbonaut: Part 1: 12 minutes

The first part is about the Climate Crisis and features a nice version of the Keeling curve – the curve that shows the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1959 – but expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rather than concentration.

This makes it easier to understand how tonnes of emissions per person can lead to gigatons of emissions globally.

Carbonaut: Part 2: 16 minutes

The second part is about my ‘personal’ carbon dioxide emissions and explains how I have assessed the carbon dioxide emissions from house.

The key recommendation is to start reading your gas and electricity meter once a week.

Carbonaut: Part 3: 24 minutes

The final part is about what I have done to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from my house by 80%. It covers the installation of:

• External Wall Insulation
• Triple Glazing
• Solar Panels
• Battery
• Air Source Heat Pump

It also covers what all this cost, the embodied carbon cost, and the likely carbon savings before the estimated date of my death. It’s quite a bit!