Project Drawdown, a comprehensive plan to reverse global warming, has 100 practical solutions for you to consider. Addressing climate change in a way that is truly meaningful is what they are all about.
Who?
Drawdown is the work of a prominent and growing coalition of geologists, engineers, agronomists, researchers, fellows, writers, climatologists, biologists, botanists, economists, financial analysts, architects, companies, agencies, NGOs, activists, and other experts who draft, model, fact check, review, and validate all text, inputs, sources, and calculations. Their purpose is to provide helpful information and tools to a wide variety of actors who are dedicated to meaningful change: students, teachers, researchers, philanthropists, investors, entrepreneurs, business people, farmers, policymakers, engaged citizens, and more.
To be a tad more precise, if you check out the list of their advisers (here), you will spot familiar organisations such as 350 org, the Sierra Club, Boston University, etc… and familiar names such as Michael Mann of Penn State university.
What solutions have they got?
Below is a table of their top 80 solutions. I’ve cut and pasted it from their website, because each has a clickable link that you can use to jump into it and explore it in a lot more detail.
| Rank | Solution | Sector | TOTAL ATMOSPHERIC CO2-EQ REDUCTION (GT) | NET COST (BILLIONS US $) | SAVINGS (BILLIONS US $) |
|---|
| 1 | Refrigerant Management | Materials | 89.74 | N/A | $-902.77 |
| 2 | Wind Turbines (Onshore) | Electricity Generation | 84.60 | $1,225.37 | $7,425.00 |
| 3 | Reduced Food Waste | Food | 70.53 | N/A | N/A |
| 4 | Plant-Rich Diet | Food | 66.11 | N/A | N/A |
| 5 | Tropical Forests | Land Use | 61.23 | N/A | N/A |
| 6 | Educating Girls | Women and Girls | 51.48 | N/A | N/A |
| 7 | Family Planning | Women and Girls | 51.48 | N/A | N/A |
| 8 | Solar Farms | Electricity Generation | 36.90 | $-80.60 | $5,023.84 |
| 9 | Silvopasture | Food | 31.19 | $41.59 | $699.37 |
| 10 | Rooftop Solar | Electricity Generation | 24.60 | $453.14 | $3,457.63 |
| 11 | Regenerative Agriculture | Food | 23.15 | $57.22 | $1,928.10 |
| 12 | Temperate Forests | Land Use | 22.61 | N/A | N/A |
| 13 | Peatlands | Land Use | 21.57 | N/A | N/A |
| 14 | Tropical Staple Trees | Food | 20.19 | $120.07 | $626.97 |
| 15 | Afforestation | Land Use | 18.06 | $29.44 | $392.33 |
| 16 | Conservation Agriculture | Food | 17.35 | $37.53 | $2,119.07 |
| 17 | Tree Intercropping | Food | 17.20 | $146.99 | $22.10 |
| 18 | Geothermal | Electricity Generation | 16.60 | $-155.48 | $1,024.34 |
| 19 | Managed Grazing | Food | 16.34 | $50.48 | $735.27 |
| 20 | Nuclear | Electricity Generation | 16.09 | $0.88 | $1,713.40 |
| 21 | Clean Cookstoves | Food | 15.81 | $72.16 | $166.28 |
| 22 | Wind Turbines (Offshore) | Electricity Generation | 14.10 | $545.30 | $762.50 |
| 23 | Farmland Restoration | Food | 14.08 | $72.24 | $1,342.47 |
| 24 | Improved Rice Cultivation | Food | 11.34 | N/A | $519.06 |
| 25 | Concentrated Solar | Electricity Generation | 10.90 | $1,319.70 | $413.85 |
| 26 | Electric Vehicles | Transport | 10.80 | $14,148.00 | $9,726.40 |
| 27 | District Heating | Buildings and Cities | 9.38 | $457.10 | $3,543.50 |
| 28 | Multistrata Agroforestry | Food | 9.28 | $26.76 | $709.75 |
| 29 | Wave and Tidal | Electricity Generation | 9.20 | $411.84 | $-1,004.70 |
| 30 | Methane Digesters (Large) | Electricity Generation | 8.40 | $201.41 | $148.83 |
| 31 | Insulation | Buildings and Cities | 8.27 | $3,655.92 | $2,513.33 |
| 32 | Ships | Transport | 7.87 | $915.93 | $424.38 |
| 33 | LED Lighting (Household) | Buildings and Cities | 7.81 | $323.52 | $1,729.54 |
| 34 | Biomass | Electricity Generation | 7.50 | $402.31 | $519.35 |
| 35 | Bamboo | Land Use | 7.22 | $23.79 | $264.80 |
| 36 | Alternative Cement | Materials | 6.69 | $-273.90 | N/A |
| 37 | Mass Transit | Transport | 6.57 | N/A | $2,379.73 |
| 38 | Forest Protection | Land Use | 6.20 | N/A | N/A |
| 39 | Indigenous Peoples’ Land Management | Land Use | 6.19 | N/A | N/A |
| 40 | Trucks | Transport | 6.18 | $543.54 | $2,781.63 |
| 41 | Solar Water | Electricity Generation | 6.08 | $2.99 | $773.65 |
| 42 | Heat Pumps | Buildings and Cities | 5.20 | $118.71 | $1,546.66 |
| 43 | Airplanes | Transport | 5.05 | $662.42 | $3,187.80 |
| 44 | LED Lighting (Commercial) | Buildings and Cities | 5.04 | $-205.05 | $1,089.63 |
| 45 | Building Automation | Buildings and Cities | 4.62 | $68.12 | $880.55 |
| 46 | Water Saving – Home | Materials | 4.61 | $72.44 | $1,800.12 |
| 47 | Bioplastic | Materials | 4.30 | $19.15 | N/A |
| 48 | In-Stream Hydro | Electricity Generation | 4.00 | $202.53 | $568.36 |
| 49 | Cars | Transport | 4.00 | $-598.69 | $1,761.72 |
| 50 | Cogeneration | Electricity Generation | 3.97 | $279.25 | $566.93 |
| 51 | Perennial Biomass | Land Use | 3.33 | $77.94 | $541.89 |
| 52 | Coastal Wetlands | Land Use | 3.19 | N/A | N/A |
| 53 | System of Rice Intensification | Food | 3.13 | N/A | $677.83 |
| 54 | Walkable Cities | Buildings and Cities | 2.92 | N/A | $3,278.24 |
| 55 | Household Recycling | Materials | 2.77 | $366.92 | $71.13 |
| 56 | Industrial Recycling | Materials | 2.77 | $366.92 | $71.13 |
| 57 | Smart Thermostats | Buildings and Cities | 2.62 | $74.16 | $640.10 |
| 58 | Landfill Methane | Buildings and Cities | 2.50 | $-1.82 | $67.57 |
| 59 | Bike Infrastructure | Buildings and Cities | 2.31 | $-2,026.97 | $400.47 |
| 60 | Composting | Food | 2.28 | $-63.72 | $-60.82 |
| 61 | Smart Glass | Buildings and Cities | 2.19 | $932.30 | $325.10 |
| 62 | Women Smallholders | Women and Girls | 2.06 | N/A | $87.60 |
| 63 | Telepresence | Transport | 1.99 | $127.72 | $1,310.59 |
| 64 | Methane Digesters (Small) | Electricity Generation | 1.90 | $15.50 | $13.90 |
| 65 | Nutrient Management | Food | 1.81 | N/A | $102.32 |
| 66 | High-speed Rail | Transport | 1.52 | $1,038.42 | $368.10 |
| 67 | Farmland Irrigation | Food | 1.33 | $216.16 | $429.67 |
| 68 | Waste-to-Energy | Electricity Generation | 1.10 | $36.00 | $19.82 |
| 69 | Electric Bikes | Transport | 0.96 | $106.75 | $226.07 |
| 70 | Recycled Paper | Materials | 0.90 | $573.48 | N/A |
| 71 | Water Distribution | Buildings and Cities | 0.87 | $137.37 | $903.11 |
| 72 | Biochar | Food | 0.81 | N/A | N/A |
| 73 | Green Roofs | Buildings and Cities | 0.77 | $1,393.29 | $988.46 |
| 74 | Trains | Transport | 0.52 | $808.64 | $313.86 |
| 75 | Ridesharing | Transport | 0.32 | N/A | $185.56 |
| 76 | Micro Wind | Electricity Generation | 0.20 | $36.12 | $19.90 |
| 77 | Energy Storage (Distributed) | Electricity Generation | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 77 | Energy Storage (Utilities) | Electricity Generation | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 77 | Grid Flexibility | Electricity Generation | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 78 | Microgrids | Electricity Generation | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 79 | Net Zero Buildings | Buildings and Cities | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 80 | Retrofitting | Buildings and Cities | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1034.75 | $29,609.30 | $74,362.37 |
|---|
How Much do you really know?
OK, so this last bit is a pointer to a fun quiz. CNN has taken their facts and figures and rendered them into a set of 8 drag and drop selections. Below for example is an image of their “Moving People and Goods” bit …
The idea is to rank them by dragging the tiles into the order that has the most imp[act upon climate and then click the button to see how you did. (No not above, that’s just a screenshot, on the CNN website).
So looking at the above 4 options, which will have the greatest impact upon climate change?
You can click here to jump to the CNN site and give it a go to find out. Don’t worry if you get it wrong, it is not a test and you would not be expected to know. This is simply a fun way to learn a bit more.
One Last Thought
Why is Project Drawdown truly significant?
One reason – There is no other plan in the world to actually reverse global warming trends. If we step up to the mark and execute it, then this actually will, it is viable meaningful solution.
References
