The BBC came out with an interesting article about SF6, a gas used in electrical installations as an insulator and ‘fire extinguisher.’ This gas has been used for years in high-voltage switchgear. But now that we use more and more electricity (instead of gas, for example, but also for electric cars), we need more of it. It’s also used in wind turbines. Unfortunately, no installation is 100% leak-free, and that shows up in the atmosphere. This is quite problematic for a gas that is 23,000 times more potent than CO2 in terms of warming the planet. I see this issue arising in my current project as well. Do we want small installations because land is expensive in Amsterdam, or do we want to avoid using this gas? After all, the whole reason for the energy transition is to reduce greenhouse gases… An interesting and challenging value conflict!