What we are working on

The items below are solutions from Project Drawdown that translate to our current interests. Project Drawdown is a helpful and authoritative overview of climate solutions. We use it to select what we want to study.

Item numbers reflect the the project’s assessment of solutions’ relative potential for global heating reduction.

Work in progress

#1 Refrigerant Management: the solution with the greatest potential worldwide. For this reason alone we must try to translate it into what a household and a community can do. The UK Parliament’s overview of “reducing F-gas emissions” may help. WHAT WE HAVE FOUND

#11 Regenerative Agriculture => soil carbon storage in gardens and local horticulture. A future Reading and District Food Belt? WHAT WE HAVE FOUND

#15 Afforestation =>  planting schemes to increase tree cover. Identify schemes with local participation or which merit support in the UK or worldwide.

#77 Energy Storage (Distributed): electricity storage is all very interesting but there’s a new kid on the block who might change water and space heating for good, and move this solution high up in Drawdown’s list: the Heat Battery. WHAT WE HAVE FOUND

Other solutions that interest us

#3 Reduced Food Waste: what is happening in our community and what can households really do?

#10 Rooftop Solar: Reading Community Energy Society. Reading’s solar electricity generation capacity is relatively low compared to neighbouring areas and the UK as a whole. What is holding back Reading’s solar installations?

#12 Temperate Forests => tree protection and restoration. What’s going on locally? We have Tree Wardens and a Borough Tree Strategy which is being updated (Oct 2019).

#13 Peatlands => local wetlands. Wetlands store carbon faster than forests. Protect / preserve / restore Kennet Meadows.

#72 Biochar => capturing carbon from dead wood. Biochar itself is a soil amendment, whose uses include treatment of sick trees and regenerative horticulture, especially growing veg. Other uses of dead wood also preserve its carbon in long-lived products. WHAT WE HAVE FOUND