How Much Energy Will the World Need?
Are we heading towards an all-renewable energy future, spearheaded by wind and solar? Mark Mills, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of The Cloud Revolution, compares the energy dream to the energy truth.
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Script:
We’re headed toward an exciting all-renewable energy future. Wind and solar will power the world of tomorrow.
And tomorrow isn’t away! … … … It’s time to wake up..
You’re having a dream..
Here’s the truth..
Oil, gas, and coal provide 84% of all the world’s energy. That’s down just two percentage points from twenty years earlier.
And oil still powers nearly 97% of all international transport..
Contrary to headlines claiming that we’re rapidly transitioning far from nonrenewable fuel sources, it’s simply not occurring. Twenty years and 5 trillion dollars of federal governments “investing” in green energy and we’ve barely moved the needle.
This was expected to be easy. Why is it so hard?
In a word: rocks..
To get the same quantity of energy from solar and wind that we now get from nonrenewable fuel sources, we’re going to have to massively increase mining..
By more than 1000%.
This isn’t speculation. This is physics..
Copper, iron ore, silicon, nickel, chromium, zinc, cobalt, lithium, graphite, and rare earth metals like neodymium. We need them all..
And after that those materials and metals need to be turned into motors, turbine blades, photovoltaic panels, batteries, and numerous other commercial components. That also takes great deals of energy, which requires a lot more mining.
As a World Bank research study put it, these green “technologies … remain in truth considerably more material extensive” than our existing energy mix. That may be the understatement of the century: raw materials represent 50-70% of the costs to manufacture both solar panels and batteries..
Since wind and solar still account for just a few portion points of the worldwide energy supply, till now it hasn’t actually mattered that much. They’re an applause line for ecologists– not a major energy player. And it’s not likely they will remain in the foreseeable future..
For the sake of argument, let’s state we greatly ramp up mining. Where would these brand-new mines be located?.
Well, for one, China.
That country is today the single largest source for many of our important energy products. The United States is not only a small gamer however is reliant on imports for 100% of 17 important minerals.
Ironically, we have all the minerals we require right here in North America..
Great luck trying to get them out of the ground..
Proposals to develop mines in the United States and, increasingly almost all over else, satisfy fierce opposition if not outright bans. To give just one example, in 2022 the Biden Administration canceled a proposed copper and nickel mine in northern Minnesota. This was after years of delays, browsing a labyrinth of ecological policies.
Yes, the green-leaning political leaders and very same ecologists who promote all the advantages of electric automobiles are the very same people who make mining the materials vital to develop those cars and trucks– like copper and nickel– all however difficult..
Try to square that circle..
So far, we’ve only talked about today’s energy needs. What about tomorrow’s?.
Future energy demand will be far higher than today’s. And entrepreneurs have constantly been much better at developing new ways to utilize energy than to produce it.
It’s apparent but worth stating: Before the creation of automobiles, pharmaceuticals, aircrafts, or computers, there was no energy required to power them.
And as more individuals end up being more prosperous, they’ll desire the important things others currently have– from better healthcare to holidays to cars and trucks.
In America, there are about 80 cars for each 100 people. In most of the world, it’s about five per hundred citizens.
Over 80% of flight is for individual functions. That’s 2 billion barrels of oil a year.
For the complete script, check out: https://www.prageru.com/video/how-much-energy-will-the-world-need.
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Are we heading towards an all-renewable energy future, led by wind and solar? Mark Mills, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of The Cloud Revolution, compares the energy dream to the energy reality.
Up until now it hasn’t really mattered that much since wind and solar still account for only a couple of percentage points of the global energy supply. That country is today the single biggest source for most of our important energy materials. Future energy need will be far higher than today’s.
