Climate change and man-made greenhouse gas emissions are crucial environmental issues for the 21st century.  Through the Kyoto Protocol the EU has committed to reducing European emissions.  With housing accounting for some 40% of European emissions through energy use - mostly for heating - mineral wool has an important role to play in reducing emissions through reduced energy demand.

Carbon Dioxide is one of a basket of Greenhouse Gases that are responsible for Climate Change and targeted by initiatives such as the Kyoto agreement. Carbon is emitted in the form of Carbon Dioxide, or CO₂, as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels, whether in a boiler, or indirectly in a power station producing electricity.

Although cars are widely associated with greenhouse gas emissions, they account for only around  25% of UK emissions, whereas buildings account for 40%. Improving levels of building thermal insulation is therefore vital if the UK is to meet it’s Kyoto commitments and the country’s dwindling sources of fossil fuels are to be preserved.

Whilst standards of insulation in buildings have steadily improved, the insulation requirements in the UK are still behind those encountered on the continent.

Mineral wool insulation offers a proven and effective technology that can help substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by better insulating buildings and reducing the energy needed to keep them warm.

What is climate change?

There is increasing scientific evidence that greenhouse gas emissions are changing the earth's climate.  Energy from the sun warms the earth's surface which also re-radiates some of the sun's energy at a changed wavelength which atmospheric gases trap and reflect: it is a little like a greenhouse which lets sunshine in but stops heat from escaping.  This natural effect has recently become more pronounced as man-made emissions increase the power of this effect beyond naturally occurring levels.

This is thought to have lead to the dramatic rise in global temperatures recorded over the last century - an effect that computer projections predict will continue.

The temperature changes predicted might seem small but their impact on the global environment could be catastrophic with rising sea levels and changed weather patterns

What is being done about it? The Kyoto Protocol

In December 1997, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Kyoto, Japan, agreed a Protocol with legally binding constraints for greenhouse gas emissions for signatories. Currently 186 countries (including the EU) have signed the Protocol making it the most widely adopted environment treaty.  Unfortunately, the US (the world's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions) has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

Greenhouse gas emission reduction targets

The European Union has committed to reducing its emissions of six greenhouse gases of which carbon dioxide is the main one by 8% from their 1990 level.  In 1990, the EU produced 3200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.  This target is to be achieved by the time of the Protocol's first compliance period in 2008-2012.

Given expected worldwide economic growth in the first half of the 21st century, it is possible that the initial Kyoto targets for 2008-12 will only be the first of subsequent reduction targets.  It is therefore understandable that in the long run cost effective renewable energy sources will be a priority.  However, the importance of energy saving measures such as better building insulation cannot be ignored to help meet these targets.