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Also, countries like Norway manage to generate most of their electricity from renewables. Just because most countries don't doesn't mean it's impossible.

• xyzzyz 9y ago
  It is, in fact, extremely hard, even in theory and more so in practice, for most countries to replace most energy use with energy from renewable sources, unless we go with nuclear energy. See e.g. [1]. With world wide effort, electrical connections spanning the globe, tropical countries selling solar power to colder regions, huge and cheap energy storage facilities, we could maybe achieve that, though I'm really rather rooting for fusion, which should be economically available in only a few decades. [1] - http://www.withouthotair.com/ http://www.withouthotair.com/
  • ZeroGravitas 9y ago
    That reference is pretty out of date now. Some people have considered updating it with more recent figures: https://www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2017/3/30/l6qcqgoedse1wmjjz87t09usoq6jva https://www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2017/3/30/l6qcqgoedse1...
    • xyzzyz 9y ago
      Yes, this is interesting and worthwhile, but doesn't really change the crux of his argument.
      • ZeroGravitas 9y ago
        I'm not sure you're honouring his memory or his work by suggesting that the numbers that he based his conclusions on changing isn't important.
        • xyzzyz 9y ago
          No, I'm suggesting that the updates to his estimates are small enough to not affect his overall conclusion.