We are close enough to reaching consensus that humanity faces severe risks from climate change, such that we need to do something about it.
It also seems pretty clear that the only desirable solution is to use technology to reduce the current level of carbon in the atmosphere while at the same time increasing consumption of energy from current levels, vs. shrinking the population or asking individual people to change their behavior.
Five mass scale solutions include:
- Incorporating nuclear fission into the power grid at mass scale
- Inventing and incorporating nuclear fusion into the power grid at mass scale
- Inventing direct carbon capture technologies and using them to replace hydrocarbon extraction at mass scale
- Continually improving battery technologies to improve efficiency and reduce materials
- Continuing the roll out of renewables like solar and wind, where it makes sense
These are all hard technological challenges the types of which should excite the best and the brightest, as opposed to being shot down as difficult for this reason or that.
While there are already good people working hard on each of these solutions, there is no big global government sponsored push to solve them within a specific ambitious timeframe.
The type of program that gets ordinary people excited, brings people together and attracts the best minds to the problem.
Think moon landing or Manhattan Project.
I believe we can do it, and we will achieve all of the above technological solutions. I am trying to understand why we are wasting so much time in getting there. I believe that if humanity can do it by 2100 with no big push, then we can do it by 2050 by making it a priority.
Why is this so and how do we speed it up?
It also seems pretty clear that the only desirable solution is to use technology to reduce the current level of carbon in the atmosphere while at the same time increasing consumption of energy from current levels, vs. shrinking the population or asking individual people to change their behavior.
Five mass scale solutions include:
- Incorporating nuclear fission into the power grid at mass scale - Inventing and incorporating nuclear fusion into the power grid at mass scale - Inventing direct carbon capture technologies and using them to replace hydrocarbon extraction at mass scale - Continually improving battery technologies to improve efficiency and reduce materials - Continuing the roll out of renewables like solar and wind, where it makes sense
These are all hard technological challenges the types of which should excite the best and the brightest, as opposed to being shot down as difficult for this reason or that.
While there are already good people working hard on each of these solutions, there is no big global government sponsored push to solve them within a specific ambitious timeframe.
The type of program that gets ordinary people excited, brings people together and attracts the best minds to the problem.
Think moon landing or Manhattan Project.
I believe we can do it, and we will achieve all of the above technological solutions. I am trying to understand why we are wasting so much time in getting there. I believe that if humanity can do it by 2100 with no big push, then we can do it by 2050 by making it a priority.
Why is this so and how do we speed it up?