Every minute, enough solar radiation reaches the Earth to satisfy mankind’s global energy requirements for a year. The wind could also singlehandedly satisfy all our energy requirements, according to Stanford University in California.
There is a lot of heat generated by industry and power plants – in fact, the equivalent in the UK of the energy needed to heat every house in the country, according to Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Yet last year renewables supplied only 9.4% of the electricity generated in the UK, according to the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC). DECC's comment that renewables could have supplied more electricity had it not been for the rain and low windfall highlights the main problem of renewables – they are not reliable. There remain technological difficulties to be overcome in harnessing all that energy and making it available where and when it is needed.
Neither is it just a question of being green. With fossil fuels becoming rarer and therefore more expensive (and shale gas can only delay that, not prevent it) alternatives have to be found if we are going to continue to keep warm, use computers and cars, and make products in factories.
Yet with Governments beginning to appear shakey on at least some commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions it looks as if we are all going to have to accept some measure of individual responsibility towards tackling global warming and managing energy – and the architectural and construction industry more than most as its work results in 60% of worldwide CO2 emissions.
There are a lot of global warming deniers who do not believe anything should be done because there is not a problem and a lot of others who shrug their shoulders because they do not believe they can do anything to make a difference.
But if you stop looking at sustainability as a threat and start to look at the benefits of reducing the amount of energy you use – or at least buy – suddenly making a difference looks more like making sensible business decisions than making a sacrifice.
That was the message from Charlie Luxton, architect, TV presenter and sustainability champion, when he spoke at the Natural Stone Awards after he had presented the prizes at Lord’s cricket ground in London at the end of November.
It is a message explored further in the current issue of Natural Stone Specialist, the monthly magazine that has been serving the whole of the stone industry in the UK and Ireland, from design to finished project, since 1882.
There is a contribution from sustainability expert Ian Nicholson, currently working with Realstone, offering advice on why companies should meet their environmental and ethical responsibilities and how they can do so.
The Confederation of British Industry says the green market (not all of which is related to construction) accounts for £122billion a year – 8% of GDP – and might have provided a third of what little growth there was in any sector in 2011/12, which is why Building magazine has launched its Green for Growth campaign to encourage Government to do more on the environmental front. The campaign is rapidly attracting broad support from the industry.
Sustainability is already making a difference to the specification of products in construction. Fortunately for the stone industry, the Stone Federation is helping its members to keep up with rapidly changing attitudes towards sustainability and last year published, with the help of ConstructionSkills and the BRE, two documents to guide companies through the minefield that the subject can be.
Anyone who wants some help on sustainability would benefit from studying these documents, called Demonstrating Your Company's Sustainability Credentials and Natural Stone: The Sustainable Solution. Anyone who wants to see what the Stone Federation can do for them should talk to the Federation. Call 01303 856123. Or visit the website.