Sufficient tech meme

# 2672

An emerging meme for dealing with climate change goes something like "we have the technology, and only lack the political will" to cope with climate change issues.

We do not have such technologies, and this meme makes the politicians look weak and stupid. The reality is that there is no such technology that policy could implement.

Take solar panels. Most modern statistics on solar panel distribution claim that the capacity is there to make a difference. Two issues are ignored. First the manufacturing cost of those solar panels. Not only manufacturing but mining, transportation, and installation. All these take lots of energy that is not being taken into account.

It also looks like there are limitations on the amount of materials in the ground that would be needed for solar arrays at that scale.

So far worldwide, we see that increased solar and wind capacity is being added on to the current energy sources, not replacing them. The world, hunger for energy is increasing, not decreasing.

A side issue is the tendency for articles to stress the capacity of solar and wind arrays, not the deliverable numbers. The solar panel can be rated at a kilowatt but the actual delivery must take into account night time, clouds, winter, and other issues that limit the amount that can actually be delivered less than the capacity.

But core is we need to cut fossil fuel use and all proposed "we have the tech" require energy to implement and deploy. Any proposal other than STOP is a net energy producer.

Let’s get real and use the critical thinking we all think is desirable.