Collective Solutions
To avoid Climate Disaster, we MUST reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
Coal, petroleum and natural gas were formed from organic matter over millions of years. When burned, these “fossil fuels” give up the carbon sequestered in those ancient plants and animals in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2).
About three-fourths of the primary energy we use comes from fossil fuels.
We use energy for transport, electricity, building and heating....
Some of this gas is reabsorbed into our soils and vegetation, some into our oceans, and the rest goes into our atmosphere where it causes global warming.
People once lived without electricity, without cars or planes. Could we do it again?
Would we want to, given a choice?
People who don’t have electricity, want it! People who have it would not willingly give it up!
So, what might replace fossil fuels?
What about the sun and the wind?
Most experts agree that we could not get all the electricity we need from intermittent “renewable” sources alone.
And electricity is only about 20% of our total energy needs.
In the future we’ll be needing more energy, not less.
The world’s population is growing and everybody wants a better life. “Better” usually means more goods, more services, more transportation. All this requires energy.
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Carbon-free energy!
When Albert Einstein famously wrote “e=mc2”, he was saying that a tiny amount of matter can be converted into an enormous quantity of energy - if you know how to do it.
And, luckily, we do! A sodacanful of the element Uranium can produce enough energy for a lifetime’s comfortable living
We can produce energy from atoms for all the foreseeable future.
But - is it safe?
Well, it turns out that nuclear is the safest of all energy sources, even when you consider the serious nuclear accidents we’ve had.
How about a Climate song?
Drawings by Philippe Honnoré