3 ms·

Stopping burning fuel now will return us centuries in the past, I suppose to about 1700. Twenty years ago it would return us to 1500. Then a handful of people h

Stopping burning fuel now will return us centuries in the past, I suppose to about 1700. Twenty years ago it would return us to 1500. Then a handful of people had heating in their homes and a horse to travel. This will happen again if we stop burning now.

adrian_b 8mo ago
Such claims are ridiculous. Nobody needs burning fuel. Everybody just needs energy and it does not matter which is its source. If enough energy is produced by other means than burning fossil fuel, nobody will return to the past. I happen to be one of those who does not use directly any kind of energy, except electrical. Despite the fact that I am still connected to methane gas distribution, I have never burned it for already around a decade. (And unlike most, I cook myself from raw ingredients everything that I eat, but I stopped using flames for that many years ago.) If burning fossil fuel would stop completely right now, that would not affect me at all, much less would return me centuries in the past, as long as the electrical energy supplier has enough sources in its hydroelectric, solar, wind and nuclear plants, all of which are abundant where I live. For aircraft and spacecraft, hydrocarbon fuel will remain the best solution, but synthesizing hydrocarbons was already possible at large scale before WWII and it could solve easily this problem in a CO2-neutral manner, if a fraction of the money wasted for various useless or harmful things would be invested in improving the efficiency of such critical technologies.
- joquarky 8mo ago
  Most people can't afford to go 100% electric. Many of them are already sacrificing health care to afford food and shelter.
  - OkayPhysicist 7mo ago
    Solving said healthcare issue would free up even more money to spend on useful things. The US spends more on healthcare than anyone else, for far from the best outcomes.
danny_codes 8mo ago
Bro what are you talking about. Nuclear power exists. You simply scale one we have now by 10x and buy BYDs EV capacity for 5 years and you’re done. It’s not even particularly expensive relative to GDP.

adrian_b 8mo ago

Such claims are ridiculous. Nobody needs burning fuel. Everybody just needs energy and it does not matter which is its source. If enough energy is produced by other means than burning fossil fuel, nobody will return to the past. I happen to be one of those who does not use directly any kind of energy, except electrical. Despite the fact that I am still connected to methane gas distribution, I have never burned it for already around a decade. (And unlike most, I cook myself from raw ingredients everything that I eat, but I stopped using flames for that many years ago.) If burning fossil fuel would stop completely right now, that would not affect me at all, much less would return me centuries in the past, as long as the electrical energy supplier has enough sources in its hydroelectric, solar, wind and nuclear plants, all of which are abundant where I live. For aircraft and spacecraft, hydrocarbon fuel will remain the best solution, but synthesizing hydrocarbons was already possible at large scale before WWII and it could solve easily this problem in a CO2-neutral manner, if a fraction of the money wasted for various useless or harmful things would be invested in improving the efficiency of such critical technologies.

joquarky 8mo ago
Most people can't afford to go 100% electric. Many of them are already sacrificing health care to afford food and shelter.
- OkayPhysicist 7mo ago
  Solving said healthcare issue would free up even more money to spend on useful things. The US spends more on healthcare than anyone else, for far from the best outcomes.

danny_codes 8mo ago

Bro what are you talking about. Nuclear power exists. You simply scale one we have now by 10x and buy BYDs EV capacity for 5 years and you’re done. It’s not even particularly expensive relative to GDP.