The UK Energy situation and Carbon Emissions

About 1/3 emissions in UK are domestic, so there is a great deal that each individual and household can do.

The present average emissions per individual in the UK are estimated at 11 tonnes per annum. Of this an average of 2 tonnes per individual is attributed to air travel, which is best avoided. A sustainable average per individual throughout the world is reckoned to be about 3 tonnes per annum (a reduction of 80%), although some advocate 2 or even 1 tonne per annum. 3 tonnes is about 9 kg per person per day.

The scientists have worked out the factors by which to calculate the emissions from the fuels we use. To achieve 3 tonnes, a possible individual ration (to be multiplied by number in household) would be:

Every individual's circumstances are different, but personal consumption can be monitored by checking bills, or, better still, reading meters and recording consumption from day to day. Smart energy recording meters can be bought or borrowed from Norfolk Library Service.

The Church of England's Shrinking the Footprint website has plenty of advice and suggestions for action at www.shrinkingthefootprint.org/

A personal carbon calculator can be found at http://carboncalculator.direct.gov.uk/index.html

Although the only realistic way to reduce to 1 tonne a year (3kg a day) is to install sustainable sources of power and use an electric car, any small reduction adds up when a lot of people act together.

Offsetting or buying other people's credits in emissions - the policy favoured by most European nations - only shifts responsibility onto others.