1.6 billion vehicles on the road in 2018, 16 trillion kilometers traveled every year. There needs to be an energy storage facility that can keep putting our energy to the grid and providing that buffer when the energy is intermittent. As a buffer, our existing power system has to deliver what's called sinusoidal clean power. 100% of the time it must be the same voltage count and frequency. And if deviates even a little bit,. we have what's called a brown out or a blackout and our electrical stuff stem. So this is to replace the system as it is.
So do we have enough materials for a renewable economy or not?
A few months ago, the energy-Twittersphere exploded into debate over Simon Michaux’s report detailing how we lack enough materials and minerals for a renewable economy. I interviewed Simon, a researcher at GTK Finland, about this report, in which he laid out the lack of raw materials and the ecological cost of mining which will impede a renewable energy future.
The report was divisive, with anyone and everyone weighing in on the debate, and more than some name-calling online. Nafeez Ahmed, a systems researcher and investigative journalist who has been reporting on the environment for 20 years, published a detailed piece “debunking” Simon’s report. It caused another stir online, with calls for a debate between the two tweeted from around the world.
Watching this unfold, I was concerned by how those on the same side of the fight can end up at odds, and bemused by the vitriol I witnessed on Twitter in both Simon and Nafeez’s name. Simply, if we can’t learn to speak with one another, what’s the point?
They were both quick to agree to a debate, and had already been engaging over email on the topic. We go into the technical details of the report but also discuss the polarisation of science, the processing of information, the politics and tribalism driving conversation, before exploring the benefits of how an energy transformation can truly transform society.
Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription.
Get full access to Planet: Critical at
www.planetcritical.com/subscribe