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That's a weird metric to focus on. Who cares how much energy is consumed if it's clean (e.g. hydro/nuclear/wind/solar)?
by tpmx 5y ago
That's a weird metric to focus on. Who cares how much energy is consumed if it's clean (e.g. hydro/nuclear/wind/solar)?
- dredmorbius 5y agoThere's been a significant discussion and literature concerning "decoupling" and how much, if any, economic growth can occur either without corresponding increases in energy consumption or is accounted for by offshoring activities to other countries in which greater energy consumption occurs. Even with clean energy, the quantity of energy required (and hence: capital, distribution, storage, and the like) matters. With "dirty" energy (I'm assuming you're referring to net-carbon-emissions-positive sources --- coal, petroleum, and natural gas), reductions in one country which are offset by increases elsewhere would be misleading. The results of this study suggest that offshored energy consumption plays a smaller role than I'd understood. Whether that's accurate or represents questionable methodology isn't entirely clear, but it's new information to me. (Submitter.)