As expected, my family’s carbon footprint is down significantly this year. Our emissions from driving and flying are down by about two-thirds because - 2020. For the first time, it’s low enough that I’m able to remove and permanently sequester the remaining emissions. A THREAD

2/ Our gross emissions (excl. generation and removal) are now less than the US average. This is per-capita emissions for the things I directly control: electricity, driving, space heating, flying, etc. 2020 US emissions aren’t out yet, but are expected to be down 9% from 2019.

3/ I’m not interested in arguing about individual action vs. systemic change. We obviously need both. That’s why I volunteer with @citizensclimate. Individuals will have to do a lot of the work to #ElectrifyEverything. We will need the “system” to provide the clean electricity.

4/ I’m working both to change the system and to eliminate my own emissions. It feels better to walk to walk than to wait for others to take action. Eliminating emissions does not have to mean sacrifice. In most cases it means we get to have better lives. https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/carbon-footprint-climate-change-personal-action-collective-action.html

5/ The actual US per capita total is 20.3 tons / year. The rest is from the business and industries you buy things from. Most emissions can be eliminated at almost no cost (electricity, heating, driving). For the US, the easy stuff is about two-thirds of the total.

6/ Here is a more detailed version for world emissions from @GlobalEcoGuy at @ProjectDrawdown. The US is similar, but vehicle emissions are higher and instead of deforestation we have forest sequestration.

7/ I’ve eliminated the easy household emissions already. The businesses I buy things from could be taking the same steps. So I'm choosing to count only my direct emissions. For the hard stuff, industries have different options, but they’re all going to have a cost.

8/ I’m also not counting food. Agriculture is 10% of US emissions, and forest growth removes 12%. If I take a share of ag, then I also get a share of forest growth. My food footprint is lower than the US avg (I rarely eat beef or pork), so call it a wash. https://cfpub.epa.gov/ghgdata/inventoryexplorer/#iallsectors/allgas/inventsect/current

9/ My house generates enough to cover everything the house uses plus one EV. That includes heat and hot water. We have no natural gas connection. All the details of the house are here if you want them. https://twitter.com/TomMoyerUT/status/1213926414421876736?s=20

10/ My view is that we have responsibility for our own emissions. Either eliminate them, or pay to clean them up. Offsets are not enough. I’ll count only carbon removals with permanent storage that is: guaranteed additional and scalable to the whole economy. #TakeOutYourOwnTrash

11/ I’ve found two companies that sell carbon removal to individuals and meet those standards: @Climeworks and @GreenOlivine. Climeworks is horrendously expensive (almost $1000/ton) but it’s real DAC – powered by geothermal energy and mineralizing the CO2. https://www.climeworks.com/ 

12/ Greensand is a lot cheaper, but it’s slow carbon removal. For their process, I calculate a CO2eq as if it were all instantly removed. For every 3.3 tons they claim, I credit myself with 1 ton of removal. That gives me an effective cost of $157/ton-eq. https://www.greensand.nl/product/greensand-co2-opruim-certificaat

13/ Want to help? Volunteer for @citizensclimate or @Enviro_Voter. Call your legislators and ask them to support a #PriceOnPollution. Change your house to LED bulbs and have it tested for air leaks. If an appliance needs replacing, buy the electric version. #ElectrifyEverything

Refs:
Emissions factors: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-07/documents/emission-factors_2014.pdf
US Residential electricity: https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=96&t=3
Gas: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_cons_sum_dcu_nus_a.htm
VMT: https://www.bts.gov/content/us-vehicle-miles
MPG: https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/browser/?tbl=T01.08#/?f=A&start=1949&end=2018&charted=7-11-2
Food waste (& data explorer): https://cfpub.epa.gov/ghgdata/inventoryexplorer/#waste/allgas/source/current
Flights: https://www.bts.gov/content/us-passenger-miles
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