It’s good to drive, but . . .

Jeffrey Gogo Climate Story
NEARLY everything we do requires energy, generated primarily by burning fossil fuels. Now, have you ever considered what it means for Zimbabwe’s carbon footprint when you drive your fuel-guzzling car around town, when you warm yourself up in front of an iron hot electric heater, when you produce food and goods, clear land for agriculture, or even leave the incandescent light bulb on for an entire day?

It means you are actively participating in the cycle of greenhouse gases production in Zimbabwe and everyone behaving in a like manner, or worse, is contributing in their own small way to the bigger GHG problem.

GHG gases like carbon dioxide produced through human activities are the major causes of global warming and climate change.
However, it is impossible to completely stop some of these processes because they are key to human livelihoods and economic growth, but they can be practised in a way less damaging to the natural environment.

Although the country’s carbon footprint seldom records on the international radar, it does not mean that it is not producing any.
As a matter of fact, over 25 000 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, the most potent type of GHG, were produced in 2000, according to data (and that’s the latest) from the Climate Ministry.

The term “carbon footprint” generally refers to the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere during the production of goods and services to directly and indirectly support human activities, says Bindura University lecturer and climate change expert Mr Terrence Mushore.

These gases are being emitted in Zimbabwe at varying scales, at both the individual and corporate levels. At least 68 percent of those emissions emanate from the energy sector, during activities such as driving, manufacturing and construction.

Let’s consider the individual contribution using everyday examples. When you drive a car, the engine burns fuel, which creates a certain amount of carbon dioxide, depending on its fuel consumption and the driving distance.

Mr Mushore said a litre of petrol produced on the average 2,3kg of carbon dioxide and 2,7kg when a similar amount of diesel is consumed.
Thus, if one’s car uses 7,5 litres of diesel per 100km, then a drive of 300km will produce 60,75kg of CO2. Now, the influx of inefficient second-hand vehicle imports in the country means that there are more cars on our roads, translating to more emissions produced at the individual level.

That means the transport sector is a key source of both present and future emissions in Zimbabwe, requiring tighter regulation, as the population grows and traffic volumes surge.

The transport industry alone emitted over 1 000Gg of carbon dioxide at the last official count in 2000. Only the manufacturing, construction and energy industries emitted more.

If one travels a distance of between 10km and 12km by bus or train, they add at least one kg of CO2 to their personal carbon footprint.
Flying a distance of 2,2km, operating the computer for 32 hours or the production of two plastic bottles all add one kg of CO2 each to individual emissions, said Mr Mushore.

More action needed
These numbers may be meaningless to the ordinary man in the street. But they are aptly reflected in their day-to-day lives through Zimbabwe’s warmer summers, colder winters, low or erratic rainfall and the increased intensity and frequency of disasters such as droughts.

These issues lead to difficult livelihoods, as food and water become scarce, disease multiply and human settlements are destabilised.
The average per capita footprint varies from just one tonne per person, per year for several African countries. In Zimbabwe that figure was at two tonnes per person, per year in 2001 but higher in South Africa and Bo- tswana at 6t and 5,1t respectively.

“The footprint is strongly correlated with per capita consumption expenditure,” said Mr Mushore.
“CO2 increases strongly with expenditure, while methane and nitrous oxide tend to be related to food production. As the nation becomes wealthier, the carbon footprint increases for each doubling of consumption.”

Methane and nitrous oxide are members of the deadly GHG family. However, for sustainable living, the carbon footprint should be reduced to below 2t per person, per year.

And many mitigatory actions will need to be employed and deployed for these targets to become real. In the transport case, “We can reduce our carbon footprint in many ways,” says Mr Simon Bere of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa in Harare.

“The first one is to use vehicles only when it is necessary to do so . . . and by maximising vehicle space whenever it is possible. For example, four people going to the same wedding and living within reach of each other can use one vehicle instead of all of them driving to the same wedding in four vehicles.”

People may also switch to smaller cars that consume less fuel and those that can tolerate cleaner fuels like ethanol or opt for public transport.

Mr Bere said: “The point is every fossil carbon atom prevented from entering our atmosphere counts in slowing down global warming and climate change. You may be the one who sends the final carbon atom that triggers the radical rise in temperature and the major swing in climate that can bring the whole world into serious problems.”

The world over, the concept of the green economy has gathered pace, as the desired paradigm for achieving sustainable, low carbon development.

Emission reductions are an important aspect for achieving that. The green economy, as defined by the UN Environment Programme, is one which results “in improved human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities”.

In other words, the green economy is an economy that promotes and encourages sustainable development. It is an economy with significantly reduced carbon footprint, is resource and energy efficient as well as socially inclusive.

In simple terms, therefore, the green economy works by turning everything green. That is, it is concerned with arresting the economic processes, which churn out greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane gas in vast, unsustainable quantities.

God is faithful.

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