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title: Redesign into Zero Carbon
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title: Zero Carbon for Digital World
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pub_date: 2020-01-26
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pub_date: 2020-01-26
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abstract:
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abstract:
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We need to redesign ourself into zero carbon
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We need to redesign our digital use into zero carbon
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## The world is melting, fast
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## The snow is gone
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In our small mountain village in the Swiss Alps, we’ve been having an exceptionally warm winter. Max. 11°C in January, is still cold enough for our servers but some of the local businesses are suffering from not having enough visitors to the region, since people usually come here to enjoy skiing and other winter sports that require snow and colder weather.
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In our small mountain village in the Swiss Alps, we’ve been having an exceptionally warm winter. We had Maximum 18°C in December and 11°C in January, that is still cold enough for our servers but some of the local businesses are struggling with not having enough visitors to the region, since people usually come here to enjoy skiing and other winter sports that require snow and colder temperature.
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While one strangely warm and snowless winter is not direct evidence of climate change, we can’t help but wonder what will happen if this continues every year: are we in the middle of watching something that is going away for good?
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While one strangely warm and snowless winter is not direct evidence of climate change, we can’t help but wonder what will happen if this continues every year: are we in the middle of watching something that is going away for good?
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In the Swiss Alps one of the things we see going away every year is the glacier - the Pizol glacier in the Glarus Alps, just around the corner for us, has been melting with an unprecedented speed and it is [due to disappear completely by 2030.](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/reuters/climate-activists-hold-event-to-mark-vanishing-swiss-glacier/45247240) And it is just one of the many glaciers we are hopelessly watching while it melts away.
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In the Swiss Alps one of the things we see going away every year is the glacier - the Pizol glacier in the Glarus Alps, just around the corner for us, has been melting with an unprecedented speed and it is [due to disappear completely by 2030.](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/reuters/climate-activists-hold-event-to-mark-vanishing-swiss-glacier/45247240) And it is just one of the many glaciers we are hopelessly watching while it melts away.
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When things turn too warm and no ice left to lock the cool temperature within, what will happen to our mountain ecosystem and to us people? It will certainly look different from today, and not in a good way.
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When temperature is rising and no ice is left to lock the cool air within, what will happen to our mountain ecosystem and to us people? It will certainly look different from today, and not in a good way.
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No snow on the Alps and having most parts of southern Europe turning into deserts is what environmental scientists are forecasting with gravitas. UK Met Office researchers warn that [by 2060, the world could warm up by 4 °C](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19778-royal-society-paints-picture-of-a-world-4-c-warmer/) which will likely cause a serious food and water shortage for the world: animals and plants will face existential threat and so will people.
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No snow on the Alps and having most parts of southern Europe turning into deserts is what environmental scientists are forecasting with gravitas. UK Met Office researchers warn that [by 2060, the world could warm up by 4 °C](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19778-royal-society-paints-picture-of-a-world-4-c-warmer/) which will likely cause a serious food and water shortage for the world: animals and plants will face existential threat and so will people.
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## Every fraction of degree matters
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It is important to note that we are living a critical time. Last Tuesday at the World Economic Forum Davos, the young environmenal activist [Greta Thunberg told the world](https://youtu.be/rJ8Q_1r9L8U) that we have less than 8 years to stop the temperature raising from more than 1.5°C, and for that "every fraction of degree matters." Every effort we do to reduce carbon emission matters and those of us who can, we need to do this in scale and with speed. Especially the ones residing in better-off countries need to get down to zero emission much faster than now - and in fact we could, when we really mean to. When every fraction of degree matters we need to look at every aspect of our daily life with attention. Not only the surface, but behind the curtains and beneath the covers.
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## We need to keep it cool
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It is important to note that we are living a critical time. Last Tuesday at the World Economic Forum Davos, the young environmenal activist [Greta Thunberg told the world](https://youtu.be/rJ8Q_1r9L8U) that we have less than 8 years to stop the temperature rising from more than 1.5°C, and for that "every fraction of degree matters." Every effort we do to reduce carbon emission matters and those of us who can, we need to do this in scale and with speed. Especially the ones residing in wealthier countries need to get down to zero emission much faster than now.
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But how? We understand this is getting worse, we see we need to do something. We recycle our bottles and paper, we say no to plastic bags, we use more train than planes, but is that enough to keep the world from getting hotter?
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There's still something missing. When every fraction of degree matters we need to look at every aspect of our daily life with attention - especially the invisible parts.
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## The physical reality of our digital world
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## The physical reality of our digital world
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This is often very well hidden to all of us: that everything we do online actually has carbon footprint. We just don't see it so we tend to go on without really thinking about it, but we are still responsible for everything we do - searching, clicking, downloading, uploading, transferring, streaming. Because although not so apparent on the digital surface, every data exists somewhere as physical infrastructure that runs 24/7 with power generated by some source.
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The missing part we need to look at is the carbon emission from our digital activities. This is often very well hidden to all of us, that everything we do online actually has carbon footprint. We just don't see it so we tend to go on without really thinking about it, but we are still responsible for every byte we touch: searching, clicking, downloading, uploading, transferring, streaming. Digital carbon footprint is in fact significant. Let's see some very relatable examples, [10 minutes of YouTube equals 1g of CO2e,](https://www.creditangel.co.uk/blog/consumption-and-carbon-footprint-of-the-internet) [30 minutes of Netflix equals 1.6 kg(!) of CO2,](https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/half-an-hour-of-netflix-and-chill-emits-the-same-amount-of-co2-as-6-km-drive-2364791.html).
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Digital carbon footprint is in fact significant. Let's see some very easy examples, [10 minutes of YouTube equals 1g of CO2e,](https://www.creditangel.co.uk/blog/consumption-and-carbon-footprint-of-the-internet) [30 minutes of Netflix equals 1.6 kg(!) of CO2,](https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/half-an-hour-of-netflix-and-chill-emits-the-same-amount-of-co2-as-6-km-drive-2364791.html) just to give you an idea.
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The truth is not so apparent on the digital surface, but every data *exists* somewhere as physical infrastructure that runs 24/7 with power generated by *some* source. And it is emitting more and more CO2 into the air we are living in.
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## How to reduce your digital CO2 emission
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## How to reduce your digital carbon footprint
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Now the question is how do we reduce, or avoid the CO2 emission from our digital world. A very good practice you can do easily is slimming down your digital acitivity. It's also *healthier* for most of us to get away from the screen once in a while. Pick up a book from your local library instead of that bad movie you downloaded from torrent. And of course walk or bike to that library if you can. Problem solved.
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Now the question is how do we reduce, or avoid the CO2 emission from our digital use. A very good practice you can do easily is slimming down your digital acitivity. It's also *healthier* for most of us to get away from the screen once in a while. Pick up a book from your local library instead of that bad movie you downloaded from torrent. And of course walk or bike to that library if you can. Problem solved.
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No, problem not solved. Most of us do this digital thing for a living. We need to use data and some of us are actually saving the world by doing what we do. Many of us are in fact on the good side in fighting the evil (and/or) stupid side. Then what?
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No, problem not solved. Most of us do this digital thing for a living. We need to use data and some of us are actually saving the world by doing what we do. Many of us are in fact on the good side of fighting the evil (and/or) stupid side. Then what?
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Then what you need to do is going renewable for your digital data. Go with clean energy as much as you can, as fast you can.
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Then what you need to do is going renewable for your digital data. Go with clean energy as much as you can, as fast you can.
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## How do I know how my digital world is powered?
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## How do I know how my digital world is powered?
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Maybe your digital service provider such as your chat app or photo cloud, is run by clean energy. Or likely they are not. This picture gives you an overview of what the energy sources are per country in Europe - and remember, Europe is on the better side of the world in terms of energy sources. But even in Europe you can see most countries still use unsustainable energy sources.
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Maybe your digital service provider such as your chat app or photo cloud, is already run by clean energy. But likely they are not. This picture gives you an overview of what the energy sources are per country in Europe - and remember, Europe is on the better side of the world in terms of energy sources. But even in Europe you can see most countries still use unsustainable energy sources.
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