No, Mark Zuckerberg, virtual reality will not solve the climate crisis

Billionaires are Once again claiming that technology will save us. In one interview published on Monday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that by the end of this decade he expects all of us to have access to virtual reality glasses that make us feel like we are teleporting to other people’s homes and hanging out. This, in turn, could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from travel.

“Obviously there will be cars and planes and all that. But the more we can teleport, not only do we personally eliminate travel and things that are a bit of a drag for us individually, but I think it’s better for society and for the planet in general, too, ”said Zuckerberg at Information.

Globally, the transit industry is one of the the biggest contributors to the climate crisis, and in the United States, pollution of the transport sector biggest part of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. There is no doubt that this needs to change.

But will virtual reality glasses help us reduce carbon emissions? Perhaps. Studies on the greenhouse gas production of VR technology are limited, but it is true that the carbon emissions associated with an individual call on future Zuckerberg smart glasses could be lower than those associated with air travel. across the country, for example. At present, however, we do not have enough information to be sure.

“Videoconferencing already [reduces travel-related carbon emissions] to an extent, but I don’t think anyone can say in advance if VR will be cool enough to get people to forgo pleasure travel. If that substitutes for business travel and meetings, it will be a net positive, ”wrote Jonathan Koomey, an energy and climate researcher who runs a sustainable IT consultancy, while adding that“ there is so much unknown about it that it’s hard to say anything definitive.

VR is also not a substitute for in-person jobs that require face-to-face interactions and work, from construction to food service. The millions of people employed in this sector will continue to commute. In order to drastically reduce business travel, therefore, virtual reality technology should be widely used in other industries. And when it comes to traveling for fun, Koomey doesn’t think there is much luck.

“I doubt people will choose to use virtual reality instead of going on a tropical vacation,” he said.

Of course, not everyone in the world goes on a tropical vacation. In reality, a recent study found this barely 11% of the world’s people have traveled by air, and no more than 4% of the world’s population have taken international flights. But the world’s elite, according to the study, steal relentlessly. Only 1% of the world’s population was responsible for half of the world’s commercial flight emissions that year.

If flying is bad, taking private jets is much worse. A single PJ flight across the country can produce almost double the entire annual greenhouse gas production for the average American. Yet Facebook has covered almost $ 3 million in private jet fees for Zuckerberg in 2019, according to federal disclosures. In addition to flying on business, Zuckerberg also has a $ 100 million mansion in Hawaii. It’s hard to imagine her giving up trips there to stay at home on the VR headset instead.

In a sense, however, it’s not entirely Zuckerberg’s fault. We cannot expect people with her extreme wealth level to simply act in good faith and make personal decisions that are better for our collective future on Earth! In other words, we cannot simply depend on the people who choose to buy sophisticated new technology to solve the climate crisis. World’s Leading Climate Scientists Say We Need High Levels of Government regulation to fight against pollution aviation, Cruises, cars, and other polluting sectors.

Zuckerberg, however, remained resolutely anti-regulation. But then, of course, he has to do it – his job is to make money on Facebook. Making VR glasses the next big thing could be great for Zuckerberg’s quest to enrich Facebook and himself of the society technology issue. And marking the glasses as green might help him do that.

In any other way, however, there is little evidence that VR glasses will really do as much. So if Mark Zuckerberg really cares about reducing emissions from global warming, maybe he could start with a more robust solution to fight against climate denial, by removing avenues for deniers to announce lies, and generally do not finance them or their events in the first place.