Tag Archives: Graphic of the week

Graphic of the Week: How fast has low-carbon energy been built?

Posted on January 19, 2015 by

This data, and other evidence, make it puzzling how one of the most common refrains against using nuclear power to combat climate change is still that it is too slow. Surely, those people cannot be saying that renewables are by implication far too slow? Continue reading →

Posted in Economy and the Environment, Energy, Infographics, Nuclear energy & weapons, What they aren't telling you about nuclear power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Graphic of the Week: Estimates of world energy consumption to 2100, and renewables generation to 2050

Posted on December 15, 2014 by

The question, therefore, is this: should we gamble literally everything on the off chance that the most optimistic renewable energy proposal has it right, and that the most optimistic energy demand estimate is also correct? Continue reading →

Posted in Economy and the Environment, Energy, Infographics, Nuclear energy & weapons | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Graphic of the Week: Having too much and too little renewables – at the same time

Posted on April 8, 2014 by

One of the benefits of renewable energy is that it pushes down the price of electricity when the wind blows or the sun shines. Besides lowering energy bills, that kills the profitability of traditional “baseload” power plants – i.e. those … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Infographics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Graphic of the Week: What’s the required build rate for a sustainable energy system?

Posted on January 23, 2014 by

One aspect of energy system that’s largely ignored is the ultimate sustainable capacity that can be achieved with a given rate of installation. Accustomed as we are to news about renewables breaking new installation records, we may overlook the fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Infographics, Simulations | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Graphic of the Week: The hidden “fuels” of renewable energy

Posted on November 29, 2013 by

It is well known that there is no such thing as a free lunch. However, it is somewhat less known that there is no such thing as free energy, either. Despite all the hoopla about new renewable energy sources being … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Infographics, Scarcities and constraints | Tagged , , , , | 39 Comments

Graphic of the Week: How to reduce emissions fast enough?

Posted on October 31, 2013 by

According to most estimates, we really are running out of time for the required CO2 emission reductions. Even if we were to achieve peak emissions by 2016, we’d still need global emission reduction rates of around 3% per year – … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Infographics, Nuclear energy & weapons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Graphic of the week: The great “80% of world’s energy could be generated from renewables” fallacy

Posted on October 3, 2013 by

Is a future without fossil fuels and without nuclear truly feasible? In 2011, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation, or SRREN. The report sought to determine the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Infographics, Nuclear energy & weapons | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments