Renewable Energy Overview

"TRANSITIONING THE WORLD ENTIRELY FROM BUSINESS-AS-USUAL ENERGY TO CLEAN, RENEWABLE ENERGY SHOULD SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE ENERGY NEEDS, REDUCE COSTS, CREATE JOBS, REDUCE AIR-POLLUTION MORTALITY, AND REDUCE GLOBAL WARMING."

Transitioning to wind, solar, and other sources of renewable energy could reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 30-60%.

map illustration sources: solar - global horizontal irradiance, Vaisala, Global Solar Atlas, World Bank Group, ESMAP, Vortex. | onshore wind – 5km wind map at 80m, Vaisala. | offshore wind – Global Wind Atlas, World Bank Group, ESMAP, NREL. | Kelp – Robert S. Steneck et al: Kelp forest ecosystems... Environmental Conservation 29. 2002. | Algae Biofuel – Correa et al. Global mapping of cost-effective microalgal biofuel... GCB Bioenergy. 2019. | quotation: M.Z. Jacobson et al. Impacts of green new deal... in 143 countries. OneEarth, 1 (2019).

A CLEAN FUTURE NOW COSTS LESS THAN A DIRTY ONE

“The cost of solar energy has dropped more than 80 percent since 2008, wind costs dropped more than 50 percent since 2008, and LED lighting costs dropped more than 90 percent since 2008.”

Source: Hal Harvey Quoted in “Donal Trump, Help Heal the Planet’s Climate Change Problem” Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, 11/16/2016.

GLOBAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION

WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO PURSUE AND SUBSIDIZE NEW FOSSIL FUEL EXTRACTION WHEN RENEWABLES ARE COMPETITIVE IN TERMS OF THE ENERGY EXPENDED IN ORDER OBTAIN IT AS WELL AS PRICE?

"Fossil fuels emit more that just carbon dioxide when burned. Coal-fired plants singlehandedly generate 42% of dangerous mercury emissions in the United States, as well as two-thirds of U.S. sulfur dioxide emissions (which contribute to acid rain)... fossil fuel powered cars, trucks, and boats are the main contributors of poisonous carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide, which produce smog (and respiratory illness)" - NRDC

sources: Natural Resource Defense Council, Fossil Fuels: The Dirty Facts. NRDC.ORG

Fossil Fuel Resources: Oil, Gas, and Coal

"TO AVOID 1.5C GLOBAL WARMING, WE MUST STOP AT LEAST 80% OF ALL ENERGY AND NON-ENERGY FOSSIL FUELS AND BIOFUEL EMISSIONS BY 2030 AND STOP 100% NO LATER THAN 2050.

Air pollution from these same sources kills 4–9 million people each year, and this damage will continue unless the sources of air pollution are eliminated... if the use of fossil fuels is not curtailed rapidly, rising demand for increasingly scarce fossil energy will lead to economic, social, and political instability, enhancing international conflict."

map illustration sources: Oil & Gas Fields - Petroleum Dataset V1.1.1, The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) | Lujala, Päivi et al. 2007. ‘Fighting over Oil: Introducing A New Dataset’, Conflict Management and Peace Science. | Coal - Oakleaf JR et al. (2015) A World at Risk: Aggregating Development Trends to Forecast Global Habitat Conversion. Fig. 10. | quotation: M.Z. Jacobson et al. Impacts of green new deal... in 143 countries. OneEarth, 1 (2019), pp. 449-463

Comparing costs: net zero emissions, biodiversity conservation, current military expenditures, and global warming impacts

THE ESTIMATED COST TO REACH NET ZERO BY 2050 IS ROUGHLY TEN TIMES CHEAPER THAN THE COST OF INACTION.

"The world stands to lose close to 10% of total economic value by mid-century if climate change stays on the currently-anticipated trajectory... Among others, physical risks include property damage, disruption to trade due to climate shocks (eg, severe weather events such as storms, floods and droughts), and lost productivity due to rising average temperatures."

Sources: “Making Missions Possible: Delivering a Net Zero Economy” Energy Transitions Commission. September 2020 ; “Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Financing Gap.” Duetz et al. 2020; “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector” International Energy Agency, October 2021 ; “The Economics of Climate Change: No Action Not an Option” Swiss Re Institute, April 2021.

land area required for 100% renewable energy vs other land use

HOW MUCH SPACE WOULD IT TAKE TO POWER THE WORLD WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY ALONE?

only 0.6% of all global land and 0.1% of global oceans

M.Z. Jacobson, M.A. Delucchi, M.A. Cameron, S.J. Coughlin, C.A. Hay, I.P. Manogaran, et al. Impacts of green new deal energy plans on grid stability, costs, jobs, health, and climate in 143 countries. OneEarth, 1 (2019), pp. 449-463