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skepticalscience.com |
Temperature data, corrected for the ENSO effects Source: Real Climate |
Why climate change action is difficult1. Emission rate must drop to zero2. The '2°C'* budget is roughly half gone* NB, climate sensitivity is still uncertain |
A rough guide to sustainable energyNo millions, billions, or trillionsMake quantities comprehensible and comparableDo calculations per person, to one significant figureEnergy unit: kWhPower: 1 kWh per day ≈ 40 W |
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Fly London to Los Angeles and back, once per year...26 kWh per day |
June 2007 | ||
'If every London household unplugged their mobile phone chargers when not in use, we could save 31,000 tonnes of CO2 and 7.75m per year.' |
Energy saved by switching off for one day |
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Energy used by driving an average car for one second |
0.5 W × 86,400 s | = | 40,000 W × 1 s |
Energy saved by switching off for one day |
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Energy used by driving an average car for one second |
0.5 W × 86,400 s | = | 40,000 W × 1 s |
0.01 kWh |
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UK energy consumption: 125 kWh per day per person and more, if we take into account imports 90% fossil fuels |
A rough guide to sustainable energyNo millions, billions, or trillionsMake quantities comprehensible and comparableDo calculations per person, to one significant figureEnergy unit: kWhPower: 1 kWh per day ≈ 40 W |
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3.8 W/m2 Photo by Robert Hargraves Data from www.allearthrenewables.com |
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5 W/m2 | ||
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Wind | 2.5 W/m2 |
Plants | 0.5 W/m2 |
Solar PV panels | 5–20 W/m2 |
Tidal pools | 3 W/m2 |
Tidal stream | 8 W/m2 |
Rain-water (highlands) | 0.24 W/m2 |
Concentrating solar power (desert) | 15–20 W/m2 |
Fission: 1000 W/m2 |
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Electricity, gas, and transport demand; and fictional wind (assuming 33 GW of capacity), all on the same vertical scale. |
Why climate change action is difficult3. People are unaware of the scale of action required to decarbonize the energy system | |
4. and they've been misled by myths |
Why climate change action is difficult5. Most low-carbon technologies are either expensive, today | ||
6. ... or they have front-loaded costs |
What we need for most 2050 pathways | |||
Amazing insulationThermablok and cheap building-retrofit |
Smart meters and smart controls that induce behaviour change |
What we need for most 2050 pathwaysCheaper wind, especially offshore | 2benergy.com | ||
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Makani Power |
What we need for most 2050 pathwaysProliferation-resistant, safe, low-waste nuclear power | |||
Jules Horowitz materials test reactor | |||
What we need for most 2050 pathways | ||||
Carbon capture and storage at scale | ||||
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What we need for most 2050 pathways | |||||||
Smart grids, DSRInterconnectorsEnergy storage |
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What we need for most 2050 pathways, in the long term | |
Carbon dioxide removal technologies | |
What we need for most 2050 pathwaysBackup plans
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What the world needs for 2050 |
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Solar power | ||||
Deep geothermal |
Why climate change action is difficult7. Making good energy policies is difficult |
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Why DECC's work is difficultMultiple misaligned objectivesWishful thinkingLack of evidence |
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Policies
Vancouver to Immingham: 8888 nautical miles |
(skip to pv example)
Electricity price in pounds per MWh
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www.energy-charts.de
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Impington Village College |
Why climate change action is difficult(at least, while low-carbon technologies are more expensive than fossil fuels)8. The atmosphere is a commons9. Solutions must be fair |
Negotiate a carbon priceor a carbon price mechanismgiving a predictable priceand with compensation for poorer peopleNOT caps. NOT cap and trade. |
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Keeping energy demand and supply in balance |
Electricity, gas, and transport demand; and fictional wind (assuming 33 GW of capacity), all on the same vertical scale. |
Storage costs - assume $125 per kWh [optimistic?] | ||
installed June 2011 — cost $12M ($28 per average watt) |
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Solar system cost: $28k per average kW; (to compete, aiming perhaps for $10k per average kW?) To keep 1 kW going for 12 hours of darkness, need 12 kWh of storage, which costs an extra $1.5k To keep 1 kW going for 5 dull days, need 120 kWh of storage, which costs an extra $15k So, for PV to deliver cost-competitive reliable electricity in a sometimes-cloudy location, we need two cost breakthroughs! |