100% Renewable Energy Indeed Possible, say Researchers
April 12, 2011
The world can be powered by renewable energy in 20-40 years - using technology available right now, says Stanford researcher Mark Jacobson.
In a time of catastrophe oil spills, nuclear meltdowns, and water poisoned from natural gas fracking, citizens around the world are still being told we must keep using these technologies to fuel our demand for energy.
In the past, any one of these disasters would have been enough to shut them down and pass laws to move toward clean alternatives, but not these days. We’re already giving out new permits for deep water offshore drilling and even as Japan reels under a nuclear meltdown, we make plans for new nukes.
Contrary to what the fossil fuel and nuclear lobbies would have the world believe – 100% renewable energy is within our reach – all we need is the public will, which unfortunately is in short supply today.
“Based on our findings, there are no technological or economic barriers to converting the entire world to clean, renewable energy sources,” says Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University. “It is a question of whether we have the societal and political will.”
He and co-author Mark Delucchi, from the University of California-Davis, published their paper in Energy Policy – they assess the costs, technology and material requirements to convert our society to renewable energy.
According to their plan, wind and solar can provide 90% of energy demand through electricity. Geothermal and hydroelectric sources would each contribute about 4% (70% of hydro is in place now), and wave/tidal would supply the remaining 2%.
Source: SustainableBusiness.com read more
