Researchers who really aim to contribute to a more sustainable world should first take a close look at the emissions and waste produced by their own lab, Thomas Freese and colleagues from the University of Groningen write in RSC Sustainability. Even though researchers come up with all kinds of worthwhile ‘green’ solutions, they are also part of the bigger problem.
Whereas an average citizen in The Netherlands was responsible for emitting around 13 tonnes of CO2 in 2020, the work of an average researcher alone is responsible for 10-37 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. This includes activities such as travelling to international conferences and it varies across scientific fields. For example, for astronomers’ emissions amount to 18-37 tonnes; for chemists 5-10 tonnes and for researchers in life sciences 4 to 15 tonnes of CO2 per year.
More than a household
The inventory by the Groningen researchers shows that electricity and natural gas are primarily responsible for lab-related CO2 emissions. Lab equipment guzzles energy: for example, one fume hood and one -80 °C freezer consume 3.5 and 2.7 times more energy per day than an average household. But water is also a big factor, as labs account for 60% of the overall water consumption of the university. And finally, there are the large volumes of plastic materials and chemicals that are produced, used and eventually need to be processed.
Clearly, there are many opportunities for reducing the environmental impact. But this can also be daunting, according to the authors. With so many sources of emissions and pollution, it can be hard to decide where to start, or to predict where your efforts would really create an effect. Furthermore, we are all creatures of habit, and not everyone is open to suggestions to change their routines.
Even so, Freese and colleagues prove that small steps can lead to big improvements. You can read the entire article and what measures they took on our website.
Image: Michal Jarmoluk via Pixabay
