There is a lot of discussion in the Netherlands about how to assess buildings, if you integrate material impacts in addition to energy, as well as to somehow include CO2 budgets. There is already an instrument for this, the MPG,… Continue Reading
The Quest in Egypt is actually quite simple: Not look for reductions of fossil, but how to live off the sun, and its derivatives, wind and water power. And where possible make things a little more effective with a little… Continue Reading
Just a few weeks ago I was interviewed by Paul Luttikhuis for the national Newspaper NRC. He creatively ‘summarized’ my book ( People vs Resources) into 6 limitations and discussed the issues with me. The first one is probably the… Continue Reading
Calculating in CO2 remains a challenge, especially when it comes to the remaining budget. There is in the Netherlands a small action group that is trying to define how we should deal with the remaining CO2 budget for the built… Continue Reading
Last week, two interesting reports were published analysing how regulations can better support ‘sustainable’ material use. Very esteemed colleagues, united in a Dutch ‘Gideons tribe’ to make the buildings sector move faster, have been working on this. [1] I can… Continue Reading
There are actually only two options (‘scenario’s’): Either we go into CO2 lockdown, or we party on until the whole thing collapses…. The latest IPCC report makes that perfectly clear again. What we are doing now is a case of… Continue Reading
Graphs are powerful images, and unlike written assertions (“opinions”), there is often little discussion about graphs. But they also claim things, and, I notice it myself, I am more inclined to accept something from graphs than from words. Probably because… Continue Reading
There are many ways you can start “accounting” for CO2 (as comments on the previous article also showed), but at the end of the day what matters are absolute CO2 emissions, from whatever activity. And cutting down a tree and… Continue Reading
Storage (binding) of CO2 in wood/timber is a hot issue at the moment*. But how should that be calculated really? Before I go into more detail, a few preliminary remarks: (the part on ‘calculating’ has been later added, and ‘CO2’… Continue Reading
Slowly understanding growth that with regard to CO2, it is not so much about gradual reductions, but about staying within an absolute maximum: the Carbon budget. The maximum amount of CO2 that can still be emitted to maintain a chance… Continue Reading