A
Not questions I can answer, not having done the underlying research. Your guesses sound plausible.
I would say that you have little control over your carbon footprint from electricity use. Your provider has the control in shifting to renewables from fossil fuels.
You *can* reduce your consumption to a degree, and if viable install solar panels on your house, but otherwise are at the mercy of the power generator who supplies you.
That is, many emissions are upstream.
True.
You *can* travel from Toronto to Vancouver by train, but it takes 4-5 days and emits far more carbon than the 4-5 hour flight.
I will be taking TGV in France for the first time this summer. Looking forward to it. Of course, I will have to fly to Paris first.
I presume that, having won the lawsuit, FedEx will then refund its customers the tariffs it passed on to them.
That said, aviation accounts for about 2% of global emissions. So does streaming video. Whilst we can and should reduce those emissions, there is more to be gained from addressing other sources of emissions. I'm not saying it's either/or, but a little perspective is helpful.
Cloud computing and AI are voracious and growing users of (often fossil fuel produced) electricity.
Electricity generation and heating are by far the number 1 sources of emissions.
Transportation is huge.
Manufacturing, building, industry are all big emitters.
Here's a useful chart of emissions by sector:
An interactive visualization from Our World in Data.
Our World in Data (ourworldindata.org)
Frequent flyer here. A few points:
First, reducing emissions from aviation is a laudable goal, and can be achieved by numerous strategies, such as more efficient aircraft, fewer flights, access to alternatives such as high-speed rail, and so on.
The aviation industry is doing plenty of things such as improving load factors, lightening equipment, and running more point to point flights rather than hub and spoke services. All of that helps.
Part of the calculus of the business class seats ignored by the article is that they are heavy. Those lovely lie-flat pods weigh a significant amount more than an economy seat, and weight means emissions. However, being able to arrive from a 14 hour flight relaxed and well rested has value.
Part of the calculus of business class is that its higher price subsidizes those cheaper economy class tickets. Reducing or eliminating business class would mean an increase in economy class prices. .../
Excellent!
Reminds me of the comment that the constant breathless reporting of various indicators such as stock market levels, GDP, etc. amounts to "economic pornography."
