The big misconception about clean energy [VIDEO 8:51]

See The big misconception about clean energy [VIDEO 8:51] on youtube.com/@CleoAbram

When we loot at adressing the climate crisis, the main idea we hear about is the need to reduce consumption in order to reduce CO₂ emissions. Less energy, less travel and so on. As Cleo explains, this isn’t necessarily true and overemphasising this might do more harm than good.

Thing is to solve climate change, we need to get emissions to net zero. Reducing consumption can help us get there but it’s of no use if the energy sources still emit greenhouse gasses. Thing is, the reason we have a higher standard of living is that we use more energy so reducing the energy we use might affect that. The better thing to do is to increase our clean energy ambitions which means saying yes to lots of solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear and whatever other clean energy sources we have.

I came around to this idea just before I found this video after reading Bill Gate’s book on How To Prevent A Climate Disaster. Along with how energy has improved our wuality of life, a zero carbon future requires a lot of clean energy as many emitting processes (like steel manufacturing, heating, green hydrogen and so on) need a lot of energy. In fact, I read something which says that computing energy demands might exceed energy generation in 2040,. We might as well embrace the need for more energy before we end up in a Mad Max situation involving computers.

Even if you think we have reached the peak of development, shouldn’t poorer parts of the world be able to increase their standard of living? Why should they be denied things that richer places have had for decades like light, transportation and connectivity just to solve a problem they’ve contributed very little to? Energy abundance is the most equitable way to go.