UNAIR NEWS – Since the first industrial revolution in England humans have contributed more than 2,000 gigatons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere which prevents the heat from getting out of the earth. Currently, carbon emissions are one of the biggest causes of climate change in the world. This is a serious problem and must be addressed immediately because it has a major impact on human health and world economic stability.
To address this issue, the Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, in collaboration with Green Innovation Indonesia, held a seminar entitled “Eco-Talk: Building a Sustainable Indonesia, Making Pollution History”. The event was held on Sunday, Dec 3, 2023, at the Joint Lecture Building, MERR-C Campus, Universitas Airlangga. Inviting Prof. Ir Eddy Setiadi Soedjono Dipl SE M SC PhD as the main speaker, the lecturer in Environmental Engineering at the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology explained the factors and ways that can be done to reduce carbon emissions.
Causes and impacts
In Indonesia, several factors cause carbon emissions. However, in his presentation, Prof. Eddy stated that in Indonesia itself dependence on motorized vehicles is the most influential factor.
“Our society is very dependent on motorized vehicles. We go by motorbike even for 600 meters, we don’t want to walk. Not to mention many people have cars and only one person is inside, causing traffic jams. The denser the road, the longer our mobilization process takes and the more carbon emissions our private vehicles produce. We have to change this dependence,” said Prof. Eddy.
Furthermore, he said that Indonesia as an agricultural country also makes conditions worse. Many people don’t know and think about this. Cultivation in rice fields contributes to an increase in carbon gas because in the process it emits methane gas and N20.
“So don’t be too proud when Indonesia becomes an agricultural country, because the impact is not good for the environment,” said the Professor of Environmental Engineering at the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology.
“If we don’t act immediately, the impact will be huge. Maybe for old people like me, it won’t have a big impact, but the younger generations like you and your children and grandchildren will feel it,” he explained.
According to him, in general, the problem of carbon emissions causes diseases such as asthma, acute respiratory infections, and lung cancer. For women, they have a higher possibility of giving birth to an autistic baby because they breathe polluted air. Moreover, the problem of carbon emissions mathematically reduces life expectancy by 1.4 years.
How to cope
According to Prof. Eddy, this fact makes us aware of the dangers and impacts of environmental pollution and carbon emissions. However, just being aware is not enough, real action is needed to overcome this problem. As an academic, Prof. Eddy also suggested several things that could be done to overcome the problem of carbon emissions.
“The steps are very easy, anyone can do it. It’s as easy as reducing the use of private vehicles. Start walking, and cycling when the distance is not far and you don’t have to worry about time, after all, there are already many communities who ride bicycles everywhere. If you have more money, buy a bigger car, so that many people can go at once, not just one person in one car. I often encounter things like this. It causes traffic jams and results in the birth of autistic babies born to our policewomen,” he said.
Prof. Eddy also suggested that the government should create a better city layout. “Improve public transportation services, make canopies around sidewalks so that pedestrians can be sheltered, cycling lanes can be widened and regulations can be improved again so that more people want to go cycling,” he concluded.
Introduce Ecoroute App
This Eco Talk session is not just a discussion session. In the end, the team from Green Innovation Indonesia introduced an application called Ecoroute to all participants. Ecoroute is an application initiated by Green Innovation Indonesia to minimize our daily carbon emissions.
“This application is like a pre-existing road guide application. However, the difference is that the Ecoroute application can show you the fastest route and the gentlest route that you can take. By choosing the route recommended by Ecoroute, you will also be shown how much carbon emission reduction you have made during the trip,” said Hakam as CEO of Green Innovation Indonesia.
We can use applications like this to reduce carbon emission problems. Currently, the Ecoroute app has not been launched publicly. The finishing process still needs to be carried out so that users are comfortable in using Ecoroute later. For further details, you can see via Instagram @ecoroute.apps
Author: Naufal Hilmi F
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
