Own Grown Gardening

  It sounds crazy but, until about a week ago, I had no idea the  European Union and the  UK Government classes the burning of wood as a low carbon energy source. This logic is based on the fact the carbon released into the atmosphere when burning wood biomass was absorbed out of the atmosphere as the trees grew and, newly planted replacement saplings will  repeat the carbon absorption cycle again. In 2020,  12.6% of the UK's electricity production came from burning biomass contributing towards reducing coal burning for power generation to just  1.8% in 2020 from  28.2% in 2010. That is an astonishing achievement in a decade. Something which isn't celebrated enough.   At the same time, we must remember how far we still have to go to decarbonise. Biomass is a bit of a double edged sword as well. Although it is ultimately renewable, there is a time lag we must remember to appreciate. If you burn a tree today, all that carbon goes into the atmo...

I find myself increasingly wondering what a Net-Zero future might look like. Is such a future even possible?  Here in the UK, the government has signed a commitment for this country " to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 ". From where I'm standing at this moment on the cusp of 2023, to achieve this target feels almost farcical while simultaneously imperative. Some look to Cuba as a model for how to adapt. " The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil " takes this view. On the one hand, I find this documentary quite inspiring. One of its key messages seems to be that overcoming adversity has the power to bring us together for positive long lasting change. A pleasant thought when contemplating how to minimise and even survive climate change. On the other hand, is this documentary's message too simplistically idyllic to the point of misleading? Hmmm... I fear it might be... Let's examine Cuba as a case study. What caused the cr...