A reality check on renewables - David MacKay

How much land mass would renewables need to power a nation like the UK? An entire country's worth. In this pragmatic talk, David MacKay tours the basic mathematics that show worrying limitations on our sustainable energy options and explains why we should pursue them anyway. (Filmed at TEDxWarwick.)

Lesson by David MacKay.

[LordSwordbreak]

This is still one of the best TED talks I have ever watched. Thank you kindly, Sir David McKay. May you rest in peace

[daztheduke]

A great loss for humanity. So sad to discover Sir David MacKay passed away recently. I think Davids book 'without hot air' is a truly inspirational piece of work and such an important read. The work of a true 'Hero'.

[dominicbarber]

Wow - a sane person, talking sense without an agenda. Amazing.

[waywardgeologist]

Finally a discussion about renewables production and not their capacity. The talk was an honest look at the nature of the technology. Renewables do have their place but too many people are selling a myth behind them when they use the word capacity to describe their installation.

[amiralozse]

11:15 "People are Anti-everything!" 100% true. i dont want to comment about the consequences - every person capable of doing is encouraged to try

[dostthouevenlogicbrethren]

7 years later, and the shouting has gotten louder, more insane, and even less grown up.

[rafaelgomez]

I've seen a lot of videos on the subject this by far is the clearest projection of ideas by a humble human being. May he rest in peace

[paulie-g]

Amazing. A man who is both a fan of the environment *and* math+common sense.

[patharvard]

The speaker failed to mention the elephants in the room, the intermittently of solar and wind and destruction of the landscape .

1.) When the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, we need to fire up the fossil fuel power plants to cover the shortfall, as we greatly lack battery backups to store the energy from wind and solar generation.

2.). When I first saw massive wind mills on a hillside and a long stretch of solar panels in the countryside, I remarked, look at that. How cool! However, with the projections of future required land use, for renewables, to end fossil fuel reliance, the amount of the natural landscape swallowed up and wild creatures made homeless and killed is, to say the least unacceptable.

Hydro and nuclear power, whatever their problems, are currently the best solutions for non-fossil fuel solutions to meeting our energy needs.

[thisguy]

honestly my money's on nuclear power, it just seems far more practical than everything else, especially the newer types being developed, but we're too scared to really try them because of all the fear-mongering.

[tomzhangg]

I'd like to see someone making a similar speech today, seeing that this presentation is very old

[elietheprof]

Also imagine the quantity of *rare metals* we'd have to dig out of the earth, to cover most of a desert in solar panels 😕

[kkhinson]

Honest, scientific, practical, wide range, fearless, fail safe, problem solving, realistic, commonsense, and trustworthy approach to necessary energy consumption.

After all, plants, trees, food etc. rely on Carbon Dioxide and give off Oxygen which we need. Oxygen to Carbon Dioxide back to Oxygen is PURPOSEFUL and unbreakable Cycle of Life!!!

[SevenRiderAirForce]

This was really cool. He put practical numbers and ideas out there rather than just whinging about stuff everyone already knows is bad.

[bretthansen]

This isn't that difficult- nuclear is and always has been the solution. Conservation and lifestyle changes will just mitigate the amount of nuclear necessary- but that's the long and short of it- moralizing about the solution only delays its implementation - we wait long enough waiting for unicorns to solve the problem and it won't matter.

[samguapo]

Watching this video is good because it will teach you to audit data presented and be more prudent when you hear other presentors whichever side of the fence they are. That way, fake news spreads less.

[BYs]

What a man, a great loss for humanity. If our politicians would reason like he did, we would actually be making efficient change.

[nachannachle]

This lecture is the best demonstration of the fact that renewables, weather and Climate change go hand-in-hand.

[colliecoform]

Nuclear is the answer but there is so much prejudice I don't see it happening. I live in an area that is closing it's nuclear plant. They have been protesting, signing petitions, etc for years and our !! "##!! Governor announced it is closing, Yeah. Our bills will now double, Yeah! And he wonders why people are leaving, hmm?? High income tax, high fees, high local tax, high sales tax, high property tax and now double the cost of electricity which was already high. Doesn't it sound appealing?

[frenchfree]

No mention of THORIUM reactors built to scale. Low internal pressure and the size of a van produces enough for 30-50k people.