By Volker Sick, Global CO₂ Initiative, University of Michigan

It is clear that solving climate change cannot be done with a single technology, behavioral change, or adaptation effort alone. Emissions reduction is clearly paramount so that we can eventually reach a net-zero carbon future. Much has been achieved already, for example large-scale deployment of wind and solar electricity farms replacing many fossil fuel burning power plants have reduced the carbon footprint of US electricity by 33% since 2010.. 

Of course, more is still necessary. We need to work on many different avenues at the same time. Another often overlooked, yet critically important, effort involves replacing fossil carbon with alternatives, i.e. carbon from plants and from captured CO₂. 

When thinking about carbon capture and utilization, it is important to take the context into account. There are two important contextual elements that are often overlooked. First, many industries lack environmentally friendly alternatives and thus their emissions are hard to abate. Second, we also need to remove legacy emissions. 

With this context in mind, using captured CO₂ serves two purposes. First, it ensures that we can continue to make and use our many carbon-based, everyday products, e.g. clothes, soap, soda, plastics, etc. Second, using captured carbon to make long-lived products provides a more affordable and durable carbon removal solution. Together, these two purposes generate a revenue stream to support the act of capturing CO₂ and help us transition to a greener economy.

What else needs to be done? Let’s look at some low hanging fruit that would allow Americans alone to reduce emissions by 125 million tonnes of CO₂ each year, while also saving money!

In 2023, daily gasoline consumption in the U.S.A. reached 8.94 million barrels, which equals about 1 million tonnes of gasoline. Each day Americans burn gasoline to move their cars and that produces about 3.5 million tonnes of CO₂ that then enters our atmosphere.

If everyone would drive a little more mindfully, we could substantially reduce these numbers. For example, if there is a red stop light 100 yards ahead of you, does it really make sense to continue accelerating until you get to the stop light? If you are stuck in traffic for a while and you are finally able to move again, does it make sense to try to zoom off when you know you will probably have to stop again shortly? If you are not driving mindfully, you are in essence burning money. 

By using more foresight to avoid excessive acceleration and braking, we could easily reduce fuel consumption (and increase gas mileage) by 10% without the need for any new technology. That translates to 350,000 fewer tonnes of CO₂ emitted every day, or 125 million tonnes per year!

And the benefit of more mindful driving is not just environmental. Currently, Americans spend on average about $2,400 per year on gasoline. However, making small changes to your driving habits can earn you an extra $240 annually in gasoline savings alone, not to mention wear and tear on your car. Furthermore, if all 233 million U.S. drivers were to adopt a more mindful driving strategy, that would translate to a total nationwide savings of more than $55 billion a year! Individually, it may not seem like a huge impact, but if we all make this small change, we not only make a big difference for the environment, but we also reap a substantial financial reward for ourselves! 

More mindful driving is certainly not going to single handedly address climate change. Moreover, it is not even the single most important sustainability strategy. However, at this stage of the game, it is pointless to argue about which strategy is the most important. We need all sustainability strategies and we need them now.

What are some other ways that we can all make small changes that add up to a huge collective impact? Send your ideas to info@globalco2initiative.org.