Decarbonisation: Good news we need in fight against climate change

As fires engulf one side of the world and floods and cyclones dominate the other, it is hard to believe that there is any good news on climate change. Anyone who remembers the summer of 2024 in Dhaka can remember the exhaust-like hot air on your face when you would go through a CNG, or that burning feeling on your skin just because it's hot. But I am not here to talk about that – I am here to bring good news to you. And the good news comes with one word – decarbonisation. 

Jobayda works at a garments factory in Gazipur. She is a sewing operator. Her work is around sewing machines all day, and her day-to-day life does not concern decarbonization at all. One day, her line manager told her that the sewing machines would be replaced with an efficient motor to reduce energy consumption. She was also told that with more efficient sewing techniques, she could save the electricity consumption of the company. The more efficient her work was, the more incentives she and her colleagues were getting. She also saw the factory make other changes like changing the light bulbs and changing the layout of the factory to get light from the sun. The ventilation was also better as the exhaust fans were being maintained regularly. 

Her factory was employing decarbonisation strategies where the focus was reducing or eliminating carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, particularly those related to energy production. 

Some kilometres away from Jobayda, Tinni lives in a flat with her family. The last year has been hard on her, the electricity bill keeps on increasing and a significant portion of her salary goes to electric bills. Her colleague suggested that she should investigate her electric bill every month and take stock of the high-energy-consuming appliances; she could save at least 10% on electricity this way next month. With this technique, she found out that her air conditioning did not come with an inverter, causing the electricity bill to rise significantly in summer! For winter months, she made sure that she took small initiatives like heating her geyser during off-peak electric surge hours and ensuring proper insulation on the geyser to keep the heat longer. 

A few hundred kilometres away, Shahid had been suffering from an electricity cut for the last three months. This made summers intolerable and winters darker and greyer. One day, his sister shared with him that nearby farms had been powering their buildings with solar energy, and they did not have to rely so much on grid electricity. Shahid spoke to some local NGOs about it, and soon they helped him install solar power on his roof. After a few months of installation, his neighbours followed suit and now the village is fully decarbonised! 

From industry to our homes, Bangladesh has grown in the ways we adopt cleaner and more sustainable energy sources while driving economic growth. 

The 26th of January is the International Day of Clean Energy. 

This day serves as a reminder of the pressing need to transition to low-carbon energy sources to combat climate change effectively and aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 ("Affordable and Clean Energy"), which advocates for affordable, reliable, and modern energy for all. 

Affordable, reliable, and modern energy for all might seem unachievable, as we go into 2025 with the projection of higher energy costs. 
But we can do better. 

With decarbonisation, we can also lower energy costs. When we think of the entire lifecycle cost of an electric motor, the purchase price only accounts for 1% of the cost itself and the cost for maintenance and repair is another 1%. Almost 98% of the energy cost is of running the motor itself. 

When we think about this machinery from the lens of decarbonisation, not only will we reduce our carbon footprint, but also the cost associated with it. 

Adopting decarbonisation strategies is indeed a cause for optimism in these uncertain times. These strategies are not just abstract concepts; they follow a well-defined structure that allows us to take actionable steps toward reducing carbon emissions. This structured approach provides a clear framework that we can control and execute effectively, empowering us to make meaningful progress in our fight against climate change.

Alavy K. Reza is a doctoral researcher at UNU-Flores and has been an industrial decarbonization specialist for almost a decade.