Friday, September 16, 2011

All Renewable by 2030 ? Yes!

He Heard the News
Stanford researchers, after sober analysis, which is really what we want from these brainiacs, say that generating all the world's electricity through wind, water, and solar is entirely possible by 2030.

The numbers and the coherent argument is laid out clearly. They just forgot to say this is good news. This is hope.

They conclude however with a warning heard again and again. Yet it's worth repeating especially from this source -- without partisan emotion and from researchers who have no agenda other than to provide rational opinion on a sustainable future.

"Finally, they conclude that perhaps the most significant barrier to the implementation of their plan is the competing energy industries that currently dominate political lobbying for available financial resources," according to the article in the Stanford University News.

"If the world allows carbon- and air pollution-emitting energy sources to play a substantial role in the future energy mix, one scientist said, global temperatures and health problems will only continue to increase," according to the article.

Here's the lead for the news piece:

Wind, water and solar energy resources are sufficiently available to provide all the world's energy. Converting to electricity and hydrogen powered by these sources would reduce world power demand by 30 percent, thereby avoiding 13,000 coal power plants. Materials and costs are not limitations to these conversions, but politics may be, say Stanford and UC researchers who have mapped out a blueprint for powering the world.

The full feature on the study will appear in the November 2011 issue of Scientific American

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