Saving the Planet by Numbers

by David MacKay

When it comes to saving the planet, "every little bit helps!" Or does it?

Maybe if we all do a little, we'll achieve only a little. Newspapers and television programmes are full of suggestions on how we can be more green. But how can we tell what works?

Can we cut fossil fuel consumption enough to save the planet? As I argue in this week's More or Less on BBC Radio 4, what we need is a single unit of measurement. I would like to suggest measuring energies in kilowatt-hours, and measuring how fast activities use or produce energy in kilowatt-hours per day.

Click to read the entire article at The BBC