[MCN] Renewable energy : No pain, no gain

[Lance Olsen]

The Economist July 13 2017. Finance and Economics
At what cost?
Can the world thrive on 100% renewable energy?

A transition away from fossil fuels is necessary, but it will not be painless

https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21725011-transition-away-fossil-fuels-necessary-it-will-not-be-painless-can <https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21725011-transition-away-fossil-fuels-necessary-it-will-not-be-painless-can>

1st paragraph:
A WIDELY read cover story on the impact of global warming in this week’s New York magazine starts ominously: “It is, I promise, worse than you think.” It goes on to predict temperatures in New York hotter than present-day Bahrain, unprecedented droughts wherever today’s food is produced, the release of diseases like bubonic plague hitherto trapped under Siberian ice, and permanent economic collapse. In the face of such apocalyptic predictions, can the world take solace from those who argue that it can move, relatively quickly and painlessly, to 100% renewable energy?

Concluding 2 sentences:
"A high share of renewables may be less efficient at powering economic growth than fossil fuels were in their 20th century heyday. But if the climate doomsayers are to be proved wrong, a clean-energy system must be part of the solution.”

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“Our results suggest that, globally, a third of oil reserves, half of gas reserves and over 80 per cent of current coal reserves 

should remain unused from 2010 to 2050 in order to meet the target of 2C.”

Christophe McGlade & Paul Ekins. The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2C. 

Nature. January 8 2015

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"… the race between climate dynamics and  climate policy will be a close one ….” and 
“ … requires an industrial revolution for sustainability starting now."

Hans Joachim Schellenhuber.“Global warming: Stop worrying, start panicking?”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. September 23, 2008

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“ Getting from here to there would require a massive economic shift.” 

Rachel Pannett and Jeffrey Ball. “Australia Approves Energy Bill.”  

The Wall Street Journal  p.A7, August 21, 2009


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