Chart shows affordable ways to avoid climate catastrophe.......Cutting greenhouse gas emissions to keep the worslash them by more than half over the next seven years are readily available and cost-effective — and necessary to keep the global average temperature from rising more than 1.5 C. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report includes a chart that shows how. ld from heating to catastrophic levels is entirely possible and would save money. Although emissions continue to rise, there’s still time to reverse course. Ways to Compiled by the world’s top scientists using the most up-to-date research, it illustrates potential emissions reductions and costs of various methods. At the top are wind and solar power, followed by energy efficiency, stopping deforestation and reducing methane emissions. Nuclear energy, carbon capture and storage and biofuels bring much poorer results for a lot more money. Wind and solar together can cut eight billion tonnes of emissions annually — “equivalent to the combined emissions of the US and European Union today” and “at lower cost than just continuing with today’s electricity systems,” the Guardian reports. Nuclear power and carbon capture and storage each deliver only 10 per cent of the results of wind and solar at far higher costs. It’s telling that those less effective, more expensive pathways are the ones touted most often by government, industry and media people who are determined to keep fossil fuels burning or are resistant to power sources that offer greater energy independence. Making buildings, industry, lighting and appliances more energy efficient could cut 4.5 billion tonnes of emissions a year by 2030 — and there’s no doubt that simply reducing energy consumption could add to that.         https://davidsuzuki.org/story/chart-shows-affordable-ways-to-avoid-climate-catastrophe/?utm_source=mkto-none-smSubscribers-readOnline-body&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=scienceMatters-chartShowsAffordable-en-05may2023&mkt_tok=MTg4LVZEVS0zNjAAAAGLkZthONY8mOOeoVGDuKX0KxF4AQiZVVS2x3I_YE532LiRfRa-t7oXDx4KEuL-CNrnSreBZZyeD4XGoGsmvun0uhnLS8PrbNf4rOLCOJoqM8SY

Building codes are wonky and dense. But they can slash emissions and pollutants. Cities and states can use arcane ordinances to push builders to go all-electric, which will help us all breathe easier. Building codes are one of the most powerful tools policymakers can use to fight climate change, improve public health, and save households money. States and cities across the US are revamping these often arcane ordinances to limit the use of fossil fuels in homes and workplaces. It’s an essential shift, as gas-powered appliances like furnaces and water heaters are a key component of global warming but rarely at the forefront of solutions. But most municipalities don’t have the resources to engage in the monthslong process of writing climate-aligned codes. That process can and should be easier. California's pioneeringBuilding Energy Efficiency Standards, incentivizes builders to go all electric and prioritizes heat-pump technology. These highly efficient devices are essentially reversible air conditioners that warm buildings during the winter and cool them during the summer using electricity. Heat-pump water heaters, meanwhile, can heat water two to four times as efficiently as a gas unit. Beyond the increased efficiency and built-in year-round comfort, all-electric buildings reduce carbon emissions, which is critical for meaningful climate action. The California Energy Commissionestimates that the heat-pump measures in California’s new code will reduce the state’s carbon dioxide emissions by more than 30,000 metric tons per year. Assuming every new building in the state adheres to this standard starting in 2023, that would create a cumulative reduction of 1.1 million metric tons of CO2 by 2030. Transitioning to efficient electric appliances also reduces other types of air pollution. A recentHarvard study estimates thatpollutants released by burning gas in buildings cause nearly 6,000 premature deaths per year nationwide. Gas appliances also create dangerous levels of contaminants indoors: According to a meta-analysis of more than four decades of peer-reviewed studies, children who grow up in a home with a gas stove are 42 percent more likely to experience asthma symptoms than those raised in a home with an electric stove. All-electric homes are also thousands of dollars cheaper to build than homes with gas, because less piping is required, and builders only need to install one HVAC system rather than a furnace and an air conditioner. Affordable housing developers support such construction because the savings allow them to build more units for the same cost. This, of course, hasn’t escaped the notice of trade associations like the American Gas Association and the American Public Gas Association, which have lobbied against all-electric building codesand tried to stymie efforts by states and cities and the International Code Council (ICC) to adopt them....read more          https://grist.org/fix/opinion/building-codes-can-slash-emissions-pollution/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-looking-forward-newsletter-archive-grist