HOW? > Life in a low carbon world

A brave new concept

There are no tried and tested models, but the sort of things we might expect to see in a low-carbon economy would be:

Cheaper-to-run homes as each will have natural ventilation, triple glazing as standard, natural wool cladding instead of polystyrene. The cost of solar panels will come down so that everyone can afford them, and save the costs of heating.

More locally-based heat and power generation, probably on the community level, making use of local natural resources.

A better public transport system, powered by hydrogen fuel cells or a biofuel, with less congested roads due to fewer private cars. We might have a system where each person is given a travel "carbon allowance" each month and can "buy" top up allowances at an extra cost. Car sharing will be more common, and cycling facilities will be excellent.

Dennis Thouless has won international acclaim and a range of awards for his work in turning cooking oil into vehicle fuel.

Businesses saving money as a result of better energy and waste practices and Norfolk farmers leading the way with energy crops and innovative uses for recycled goods.

Financial centres will be trading in carbon, and we will all have a much better idea about our use of carbon. Goods that have a great deal of carbon "embodied" in them – ie energy intensive to manufacture – will be more expensive than others.

We will all get used to sorting out waste at home, and there will be less of it as there will be less plastic packaging. Everyone will be able to compost their organic waste, even if they don’t have a garden because home-composters will be supplied by councils.

It has even been suggested that we might be moving towards a "carbohydrate economy" rather than a "hydrocarbon economy".