• Question: How come the public hasn't already gotten ready to fuel the future in more sustainable ways. Isn't it important enough yet?

    Asked by to Hannah, James, Meggi, Olivia, Oli, Paul, Saiful on 3 Jan 2017. This question was also asked by , .
    • Photo: Meggi

      Meggi answered on 3 Jan 2017:

      I am afraid that you are right. Many people are not aware of their environmental fingerprint. Simply said, people often look more after money or their comfort instead of focusing on environmentally friendly alternatives.

      But there are good news. There is definitely a change in research. Recycling and sustainability are very important in science nowadays. Moreover, 46% of British electricity is already generated by clean energy sources.

      But yes, there is a long way to go still.

    • Photo: Oli Weber

      Oli Weber answered on 3 Jan 2017:

      I think it’s very important, but not everyone agrees. A lot of the problems we will run into by behaving unsustainably haven’t really started to affect most peoples lives in a very noticeable way. This makes it hard to convince people that lots of things will have to change, because they don’t see an immediate need for the changes to happen. Unfortunately for problems like climate change, you have to act before the effects become overwhelmingly obvious, because by that point the effects are also irreversible. Scientists can put evidence out to the public, but they can’t force everyone to agree!

    • Photo: Paul Shearing

      Paul Shearing answered on 4 Jan 2017:

      In May 2016, for the first time, the electricity grid in Portugal was powered entirely by renewable energy for 4 consecutive days (see more details in the 2016 science highlights here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/dec/18/12-most-important-science-moments-2016-space-sharks-zika-virus-proxima-b )

      A pretty impressive achievement, and hopefully a good omen for more renewable energy adoption in 2017 and beyond!

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