Thread by @AukeHoekstra

FINALLY!
Our paper on 100%RE is out!

It traces the history and fast growth of the scientific field that models 100% renewable energy: no fossil or nuclear needed.

Hundreds of peer reviewed studies now claim 100%RE is possible worldwide against low cost!
helsinkitimes.fi/themes/themes/…

In the newspaper article I also explain why I personally think this is so important: it's a hopeful message to young people who are depressed about climate change and would like a world running on 100% renewable energy but are afraid it's impossible or expensive.

Here's the tweet from the lead author. I've also included the paper's abstract as a picture.

Here's a high def timeline showing some of the groundbreaking research. As you can see it's a young field. I still remember discovering Czisch and getting enthusiastic. In 2011 @mzjacobson's paper inspired me (I replaced the hydro increase with batteries in my Excel).

But SO MUCH has happened since then!

Some people mistakenly think it's still just a few researchers but as you can see there are multiple research groups and most of the new research is by new entrants. Dozens of these papers are also in the new IPCC WG3 report by the way.

And for those who say: what do you do when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine...

The fastest growing fields of study are grid capacity, energy storage, sector coupling, and P2X (electricity to molecules like H2) and back. So everybody in 100%RE is very aware of this.

That these papers design energy systems without fossil fuels and nuclear energy does not prove fossil and nuclear don't work! It's a research focus: feel free to include them in *your* models!

But it shows we can do without and that the resulting energy system is still low cost.

I personally find that good news because I think nuclear energy is often expensive, slow and impopular with lots of discussions about proliferation, accidents, and waste.

So I'm not so much against it as sceptical that it will be deployed at the speed we need.

And fossil fuel with carbon capture and storage is not a bad idea per se either. I'm just a bit bummed out by all the cheating, heel dragging, and not delivering good results.

This clip is humorous but not that far of the mark imho.

I'm more hopeful about solar and wind that keep defying expectations in terms of production growth and price decreases. Lead author @ChristianOnRE is especially bullish on solar. I'm glad the IPCC is also picking this up now.


hindawi.com/journals/compl…

Anyway: I'm happy this paper documents that energy systems without fossil fuel and nuclear are now scientific mainstream. And I'm very proud to be a co-author.
/end