Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
When you do that,you can really cut into load.
Why does that escape 'smart' people?
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The total efficiency gains available from a full electric conversion have been calculated. They project about 2:1 improvement. This leaves a techno-utopian solution to come up with 8.5 TW average currently after replacing or retrofitting $100's of trillions in built out machines and infrastucture. Not to mention the continuing population growth that we are locked in to for another 70 years and bootstrapping 3 billion underdeveloped people who still burn wood and dung for cooking and heat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
No mention of technology?
I can increase the population while increasing wealth.
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Not without increasing total primary energy consumption again. If you get down from the current 17 TW to 8 TW from the maximum application of technology, any increases in population, or the standard of living for poor people, will increase energy consumption from there. It will take a complete redistribution of wealth and a whole new world wide social system to get below the half of 17TW that a techno transformation might provide.
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Underdeveloped farmer/ herders are the world leaders in percentage of renewable energy at 97%. From firewood and dung. They will suffer the least in the next 50 years during the coming Great Simplification.