The transition

Citation please.
I'll try to find the article, but you can use simple math, the projected total energy increase, the ouput power and density of offshore wind, plus the massive multiplaction factor to achieve constant power all year.
Remember..we are talking entire power usage, not just grid.
 
I'll try to find the article, but you can use simple math, the projected total energy increase, the ouput power and density of offshore wind, plus the massive multiplaction factor to achieve constant power all year.
Remember..we are talking entire power usage, not just grid.
here are some actual numbers by actual scientists :

energyDemand.jpg


what's interesting about this is that it represents a range of predictions from everyone from fossil fuel companies to government agencies and NGOs - but you can see that in almost every scenario the vast majority of both the increase from current day (2022ish) is handled by some mix of solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear with most scenarios relying most heavily in solar and wind. none of these scenarios has an offshore wind farm the size of russia, nor a solar farm the size of china. in fact, it only takes a tiny portion of the earth's area to meet a huge fraction of our energy demand with current solar tech. if you didn't look at the previous map, which had lots of citations and sources from, again, actual scientists, here's another analysis which has been widely shared and analyzed. this is solar electricity for the entire world as of around 20 years ago. of course the numbers are different now and power demands increase, but it's not an order of magnitude difference, and we have the whole planet, not just algeria...

main-qimg-90de6c543058158f42f688c95d5d9b4f-lq.jpg
 
here are some actual numbers by actual scientists :

View attachment 179801

what's interesting about this is that it represents a range of predictions from everyone from fossil fuel companies to government agencies and NGOs - but you can see that in almost every scenario the vast majority of both the increase from current day (2022ish) is handled by some mix of solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear with most scenarios relying most heavily in solar and wind. none of these scenarios has an offshore wind farm the size of russia, nor a solar farm the size of china. in fact, it only takes a tiny portion of the earth's area to meet a huge fraction of our energy demand with current solar tech. if you didn't look at the previous map, which had lots of citations and sources from, again, actual scientists, here's another analysis which has been widely shared and analyzed. this is solar electricity for the entire world as of around 20 years ago. of course the numbers are different now and power demands increase, but it's not an order of magnitude difference, and we have the whole planet, not just algeria...

View attachment 179802
Again...world ELECTRICITY demand.
 
,.. we need to remove carbon from the air.

I remember watching a documentary where it was suggested that if every person on earth planted a tree every year for six years, we could reverse global warming.

Trees are the most effective and efficient CO2 sponges.
As long as we don't cut them down and burn them once they're bigger, then we'd have to start over.
 
I remember watching a documentary where it was suggested that if every person on earth planted a tree every year for six years, we could reverse global warming.

Trees are the most effective and efficient CO2 sponges.
As long as we don't cut them down and burn them once they're bigger, then we'd have to start over.
If we plant enough, and if we keep them alive for 20 years. That's about when newly planted trees cover the carbon cost of planting them, and become a net carbon sink. (But a forest is forever !)
 
I remember watching a documentary where it was suggested that if every person on earth planted a tree every year for six years, we could reverse global warming.

Trees are the most effective and efficient CO2 sponges.
As long as we don't cut them down and burn them once they're bigger, then we'd have to start over.
Actually it depends a lot on the species of tree and its location and environment.

Young western hemlock stands (on the western coasts of North America) have the highest land biomass production, on the order of 100 tons per acre per year. However, seaweeds (e.g. kelp) and saltwater algae can produce biomass at even higher rates.
 
Its funny that prior to us burning fossill CO2 was actually low for healthy plant growth.
At 150ppm plants start to respire and photosynthesis will stop completely.
260ppm pre industrial has risen to 450ppm and the biomass loves it, we have record world crop production with the help of CO2 levels.
We could see 600ppm or more this century, just have to adapt.
No one is going to fix it.
 
I remember watching a documentary where it was suggested that if every person on earth planted a tree every year for six years, we could reverse global warming.

Trees are the most effective and efficient CO2 sponges.
As long as we don't cut them down and burn them once they're bigger, then we'd have to start over.

We planted a few hundred trees 25 years ago, and they've had grandkids now. BUT we recently mulched a few tonnes of their branches , using a diesel powered mulcher. About 4 hours of belching smoke - I feel guilty, but it's part of our fire risk reduction at home. At least I used my electric chainsaw ...
 
A few years ago, I was surprised to learn just how much Co2 grasslands absorb. I used to cut my fallow fields once a year, but now do it every 3 or 4 years, just to keep the invasives under control. Not sure just how much I reduce the Co2 level, but it's an excuse to avoid the work. 😁
 
Probably the only carbon capture scheme that might scale is to grow seaweeds far offshore, harvest them, and bury them somewhere. It is an open question if we can do that at a large enough scale to make a significant dent in CO2 levels. You are probably talking about billions of tons a year of seaweed to make a difference.
 
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