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kristopher

(29,798 posts)
Thu Nov 12, 2015, 10:04 PM Nov 2015

Nothing can compete with renewable energy, says top climate scientist

Nothing can compete with renewable energy, says top climate scientist


...He said there was reason for optimism about the Paris talks, where at least 80 heads of state are expected. “That is a very telling thing - a sign of hope - because people at the top level do not want to be tainted by failure,” he said.

If a critical mass of big countries implement their pledges, he said in an interview with the Guardian, the move towards a global low-carbon economy would gain unstoppable momentum.

“If some countries really honour their pledges, including China, Brazil, South Africa, US and Europe, I think we will get a dynamic that will transform the development of the century. This is not sheer optimism – it is based on analysis of how incumbent systems implode.”

In July, Schellnhuber told a science conference in Paris that the world needed “an induced implosion of the carbon economy over the next 20-30 years. Otherwise we have no chance of avoiding dangerous, perhaps disastrous, climate change.”

“The avalanche will start because ultimately nothing can compete with renewables,” he told the Guardian. “If you invest at [large] scale, inevitably we will end up with much cheaper, much more reliable, much safer technologies in the energy system: wind, solar, biomass, tidal, hydropower. It is really a no-brainer, if you take away all the ideological debris and lobbying.”

India, for example, aims to deliver 350GW of renewable energy in the next 10 years, the equivalent to 300 nuclear power stations...
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/09/clean-energy-is-key-successful-climate-deal-in-paris-says-top-scientist

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Nothing can compete with renewable energy, says top climate scientist (Original Post) kristopher Nov 2015 OP
"...if you take away all the ideological debris and lobbying.” Wilms Nov 2015 #1
Yeah, a mighty big If. nilram Nov 2015 #3
Not really a "big if" at all kristopher Nov 2015 #4
KNR. n/t DirkGently Nov 2015 #2
I liked this part in response to all those nuclear backers Finishline42 Nov 2015 #5

kristopher

(29,798 posts)
4. Not really a "big if" at all
Fri Nov 13, 2015, 02:46 PM
Nov 2015

The trends* are reaching the point of inevitability. The obstructionist have hit their limit of influence and the bulwark they constructed is crumbling. We can only hope it isn't too late.

* Both CO2e and the renewable learning curve.

Finishline42

(1,091 posts)
5. I liked this part in response to all those nuclear backers
Fri Nov 13, 2015, 06:30 PM
Nov 2015
India, for example, aims to deliver 350GW of renewable energy in the next 10 years, the equivalent to 300 nuclear power stations, he said. “That is mind boggling and would be the final nail in the coffin of coal-fired power stations,”

Can you imagine even trying to build 300 new power plants?

And instead of getting more expensive to build as nuclear plants have in the US, solar and wind get cheaper.
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