Will A Shift to Remote Working Reduce Carbon Emissions?

The pandemic of 2020 and now 2021 is likely to have a number of after-shocks that will change the way we work and socialize. COVID-19 vaccines currently claim to be 70% to 95% effective. Therefore, it is unclear if a vaccination program will allow a return to the pre-covid way of life or whether social distancing & facemasks are here to stay.

If remote working remains the norm for former office-workers, is that a good thing for the environment?

Remote Working in a Post COVID-19 World

Assuming that the vaccine does wipe out the disease in 2021, will people want to return to the way things were in 2019?

In the view of many, remote working has been one of the few positives of 2020. The isolation of lockdown has been difficult for many. It has taken a toll on the mental health of people across the globe. However, the idea of continuing beyond the pandemic with a remote working model is ideal for some. Commutes are expensive and stressful after all.

Many people who commute from outside to within major inner cities such as London and New York, have reported reduced levels of stress and increased productivity levels when working remotely.

Reports from major employers such as Google and Twitter have also been mostly positive, with some companies offering the opportunity to work remotely permanently. Considering the amount of money these companies had invested in their vast, high-tech campuses, this is interesting, if not surprising.

Remote Working & Climate Change

Whilst carbon dioxide and the carbon cycle are crucial in keeping everyone and everything alive. "Green carbon" is the carbon that is supposed to be in our atmosphere, and that is essential for life as we know it. Fossil carbon, on the other hand, is what causes climate change.

According to Jackson Carpenter's Ted Talk on carbon footprint, when fossil fuels get burnt, they release carbon dioxide that cannot enter the carbon cycle. This carbon has nowhere to go and remains in the atmosphere.

Regardless of people's opinions about the reality of carbon and climate change, we are projected to entirely run out of fossil fuels within the next 30 to 40 years. Whichever way you look at carbon emissions, we must switch to renewable sources of energy.

Personal vehicles count for around 20% of all the US's carbon emissions and the transport sector itself, which includes airplanes and ships, counts for about 30%

Whilst remote working means there is no commute to work, saving time, money and reducing car emissions, there can be a rebound effect. Working from home means that each individual employee has to heat and light a separate room - sometimes the entire house for the whole day.

Green Home Offices 

Designing a high tech home office with smart devices, apps, and even phone answering services has been a hot trend for videos and blog posts in 2020. 

Few people have looked at how we can make the office sustainable from a comfort, productivity and an environmental perspective. 'Green carbon' is already part of the atmosphere. It is already a part of the climate. Therefore, it cannot contribute to climate change. To ensure that working-from-home positively impacts the environment, green carbon sources should be used to provide the energy required to work remotely.

One option is to set up an office that uses solar or wind power. Solar panels do not require any specialist skills to install (depending on their location), however, the process has quite a few steps, and many people do not have the time to learn how to go about it. The equipment required to set up solar panels can also run into a few hundred pounds, and that's just to power a home office outbuilding or shed! Solar panels, charge controllers, and inverters can soon add up in cost.

Renewable Energy Suppliers

An alternative to fitting your own solar panels or a wind turbine is to sign up with a renewable energy supplier. In the US, Green Mountain Energy provides clean energy to residents and businesses across the country, whilst in the UK, Octopus energy do the same. If you get an electricity bill, you can sign up to a renewable energy supplier and cut your total carbon footprint by 15%

Changing to a renewable electricity supplier is quite significant, especially when making remote working greener and better for the environment. Compare the 15% reduction in carbon footprint to the 0.2% reduction that would occur if you changed all your lightbulbs to LED energy-efficient ones.

What's more, if you have an electric heat pump and an evaporative cooler, the 15% reduction, could be as much as 32%.

If you have a furnace that runs off heating oil, you can use a product called Bioheat. This product is made from renewable energy and does not contribute to climate change, even if you use it to power your furnace. Along with the burning of wood, it is considered sustainable if it is sourced sustainably. Cutting down forests for fuel is terrible for the environment. Wood can be a sustainable fuel, if the trees are planted, especially for fuel, allowed to grow, and then cut down.

Hybrid Work Model

The hybrid work model is touted by many as the work format of the future. Hybrid work models will likely allow employers to recruit talent efficiently, reduce employee stress and enhance wellbeing and productivity.

Even a green home office will have a limited impact on our carbon emissions if office workers still commute to the office 2 or 3 times per week.

Carbon emissions from cars, can be neutralized by using corn or sugar! A derivative of corn & sugar anyway; ethanol. The same type of alcohol found in drinks, ethanol can be used in gasoline/petrol cars with a kit called a flex-fuel adaptor. These adaptors cost around $300 or £200 and can be fitted without specialist skills in around an hour. With diesel cars, biodiesel is the green solution. Biodiesel doesn't require any extra kit or tech, just fill up your car and drive away.

Finally, a new type of fuel, coined "drop-in fuels" is becoming more readily available for all cars. According to IEA, "Drop-in biofuels are liquid bio-hydrocarbons that are functionally equivalent to petroleum fuels and are fully compatible with existing petroleum infrastructure."

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint by 60%

By working remotely or as part of a hybrid work model, using a green energy supplier for your electricity and heating, while switching your car to a green fuel such as biodiesel, you can reduce your carbon footprint by 60%.