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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/23/no-miracles-needed-prof-mark-jacobson-on-how-wind-sun-and-water-can-power-the-world>
"“Combustion is the problem – when you’re continuing to burn something, that’s
not solving the problem,” says Prof Mark Jacobson.
The Stanford University academic has a compelling pitch: the world can rapidly
get 100% of its energy from renewable sources with, as the title of his new
book says, “no miracles needed”.
Wind, water and solar can provide plentiful and cheap power, he argues, ending
the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis, slashing deadly air pollution
and ensuring energy security. Carbon capture and storage, biofuels, new nuclear
and other technologies are expensive wastes of time, he argues.
“Bill Gates said we have to put a lot of money into miracle technologies,”
Jacobson says. “But we don’t – we have the technologies that we need. We have
wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, electric cars. We have batteries, heat pumps,
energy efficiency. We have 95% of the technologies right now that we need to
solve the problem.” The missing 5% is for long-distance aircraft and ships, he
says, for which hydrogen-powered fuel cells can be developed.
Jacobson’s claim is a big one. He is not just talking about a shift to 100%
renewable electricity, but all energy – and fossil fuels still provide about
80% of that today. Jacobson has scores of academic papers to his name and his
work has been influential in policies passed by cities, states and countries
around the world targeting 100% green power. He is also controversial, not
least for pursuing a $10m lawsuit against researchers who claimed his work was
flawed, which he later dropped."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
