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In spite of Bill Gates, renewable energy has a prosperous future

The report stands in contrast to recent comments made by public figures such as Microsoft CEO Bill Gates who endorsed  nuclear power at a conference in New York last week. Gates dismissed renewable technologies as “cute,” but unable to meet energy demands…..Gates is not a disinterested party: He has invested in nuclear power company TerraPower

UN: Renewable energies can meet world’s power needs, Smart Planet By David Worthington | May 9, 2011 The United Nations has found that renewable energy alone can meet global power needs – countering the burgeoning belief that nuclear power is the only viable solution.

Today, the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released itsSpecial Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN). The report painted a rosy future for renewable energy technologies.

IPCC’s working group of 120 researchers determined that nearly 80 percent of electricity could be generated through renewable sources by mid-century, eliminating between 220 to 560 Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide pollution by 2050.

This shift would hold the world’s temperature down two degrees Celsius, which meets the goal of the UN’s Cancun Agreements. The energy mix studied by IPCC includes forms of bioenergy, geothermal energy, hydropower, solar, and wind.

…… What is unique about this assessment is that the IPCC allows us to draw on and bring together a broad spectrum of experts on each of the technologies reviewed in collaboration with scientists studying energy systems as a whole. It represents a systemic, broad, impartial and state of knowledge report on the present and future potential of a low carbon, more resource efficient energy path,” Edenhofer said.

The report stands in contrast to recent comments made by public figures such as Microsoft CEO Bill Gates who endorsed  nuclear power at a conference in New York last week. Gates dismissed renewable technologies as “cute,” but unable to meet energy demands.

Gates noted that there is a lot of room for innovation in nuclear reactor designs. “The room to do things differently is quite dramatic,” he said. Gates is not a disinterested party: He has invested in nuclear power company TerraPower. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/un-renewable-energies-can-meet-world-8217s-power-needs/6145

May 10, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA