Why Risk It?
In this interview by Institution of Civil Engineers VP, Keith Howells, this year’s state of the nation report considers why engineers must embrace the net zero challenge. He highlights that engineers have often been accused of waiting for the perfect answer – but in our view why wait? Why Risk It?
Earlier on the year, our piece on Regenerative Design endorses the main message in the report of decarbonising our main infrastructure contributors – transport and domestic gas. In this report, the ICE refer to the fact that around three quarters of greenhouse gases comes from infrastructure, and as we highlight in our own report, this is not from the design or building of infrastructure – it is from the impact of human intervention – the water people use, the number of cars on the road, the materials we choose.
The one profound statement from Keith Howells is “The thing that shook me a bit was that some of the forecasts up to 2050 are looking at a doubling or up to quadrupling of electricity supply. If we are going to change transport and domestic cooking and heating to electricity, then it is a big ask.”
There is so much to change, but in our view Why Risk It? Let’s begin now – let’s find the solution on the way to net zero targets.