IEAE reports costs to convert to renewable power

A U.N.-network of scientists concluded last year that emissions have to be cut by at least half by 2050 to avoid an increase in world temperatures of between 3.6 and 4.2 degrees above pre-18th century levels.

The study said that an average of 35 coal-powered plants and 20 gas-powered power plants would have to be fitted with carbon capture and storage equipment each year between 2010 and 2050.
In addition, the world would have to construct 32 new nuclear power plants each year, and wind-power turbines would have to be increased by 17,000 units annually. Nations would have to achieve an eight-fold reduction in carbon intensity -- the amount of carbon needed to produce a unit of energy -- in the transport sector.
Such action would drastically reduce oil demand to 27 percent of 2005 demand.

Failure to act would lead to a doubling of energy demand and a 130 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, IEA officials said.
"This development is clearly not sustainable," said Dolf Gielen, an IEA energy analyst and leader for the project.
Gielen said most of the $45 trillion forecast investment -- about $27 trillion -- would be borne by developing countries, which will be responsible for two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

$45 trillion needed to combat warming: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

 

As a chemist myself, I've been thinking the same thing long before oil prices started to rise. I can't actually believe we burn millions of barrels of oil every day. Our society consumes millions of barrels to make plastic, polymers, and millions of other products that make our lives better, in addition to medical products and food packaging. And yet here we are BURNING this valuable resource, every day. It just doesn't make logical sense.