Hurray! We are not headed for a disaster of biblical proportions

Mark Frauenfelder 11:15 am Fri Apr 26, 2013

Ramez Naam says: "Back in November, you posted about investor Jeremy Grantham’s argument that ‘we’re headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.’

"I have a rebuttal up at Business Insider, based on my new book on saving the planet [The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet], that I thought you might in interested in."

Tons of Energy Available
What about the world’s energy supplies? Energy, as the late economist Julian Simon said, is the ‘master resource’. With enough energy you can solve a tremendous number of other problems. The flip side is also true. Spikes in the price of oil cause recessions.

Fortunately, energy is available in huge quantities. The total amount of energy we use every year – from coal, oil, natural gas, hydro, nuclear, and everything else – is dwarfed by the amount of solar energy hitting the planet each year. How dwarfed? The solar input is 5,000 times greater than the amount we use from all those sources, combined.

In fact, it would take only about 0.3% of the Earth’s land area to meet all of humanity’s energy needs through 2030 via solar power.

Grantham Is Wrong — We Are Not Headed For A Disaster Of Biblical Proportions

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