Hi how are you planning to make the world a better place with less oil and gas. From Alex

Question: Hi how are you planning to make the world a better place with less oil and gas. From Alex
- Keywords:
  planet,
  pollution,
  world
Asked by anon-371264 on 8 Nov 2023.
- Ian McKinley answered on 8 Nov 2023:
  
  We can certainly manage with less oil, gas and, especially coal. The main thing is to both increase alternative energy sources and reduce energy demand. We also need to rapidly reduce the rate of population growth.
- Paula McMahon answered on 8 Nov 2023:
  
  We can still do much of what we want without it, we simply need to concentrate on what we need and using the least materials and renewable energy. The world will be a better place if we do this as it will have less extreme weather and pollution giving everyone a better future.
- Jonathan Allen answered on 8 Nov 2023:
  
  There is no real reason why we cannot move away from using fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) to generate electricity now that we have the ability to use nuclear power and renewable energies to provide a strong balanced energy supply. The difficulty is that nuclear power costs a lot to build and takes a long time to do so, while renewable energies can only produce electricity in the right weather conditions (e.g. a sunny day for solar, a windy day for wind etc.) Working in the nuclear power industry, I want to be a key engineer in making it cheaper and quicker to build new nuclear power stations and make existing stations last longer, while all the time ensuring that they are very very safe. There are lots of existing new nuclear reactor designs being looked into right now that scientists can be a big part of – so I am very excited for what I can do to help solve this problem and bring about the end of fossil fuel electricity worldwide!
- Octavia Brayley answered on 8 Nov 2023:
  
  The world can absolutely survive without fossil fuels, however, there needs to be large-scale investments in green energy and renewable technology. A ‘green transition’ is certainly possible, but it’s going to take time, and we don’t have that much time before many of the effects of climate change will be irreversible. In my opinion, governments are still thinking far too short-term and are making investments for today, rather than tomorrow. We need people at the top to fight for the health of the planet.
- Andrew Lyon answered on 8 Nov 2023:
  
  In my job I look at different industry sectors and look for ways that they can reduce energy usage and other potential reductions in chemical usage, waste production and emissions.
  
  This is part of the Environment Agency’s Net Zero strategy where were are reducing greenhouse gases from sites that we regulate, looking at alternative fuels such as nuclear and hydrogen and helping create a circular economy.
  
  Currently we mine, make, use and dispose of products. Circular economy intends to keep products in circulation for much longer through maintenance, reuse, repair and refurbishment. This could significantly reduce pollution and also energy use in a number of ways, for example by requiring less mining and less transport and treatment of waste.
- Lucy Jones answered on 9 Nov 2023:
  
  The company I work for develop ways to make products using ingredients from natural sources, like plants, instead of oil and gas. This can be challenging, because the properties of the ingredients can be different if they come from plants, but we are trying new ways to do this.
- Amy Stockwell answered on 10 Nov 2023:
  
  I help companies to understand their environmental footprints. We find where in their manufacturing process their biggest impacts, so they can focus their efforts on reducing it. This might be making their factories more efficient to use less energy, or changing the materials they use in the products.