In the latest draft of his upcoming book, Cambridge physics professor David MacKay discusses Sustainable Energy — Without the Hot Air — and shares his “back of the envelope” calculations:
I’m concerned about cutting UK emissions of twaddle — twaddle about sustainable energy. Everyone claims to be concerned, and everyone is encouraged to ‘make a difference’, but many of the things that allegedly make a difference don’t add up.Twaddle emissions are high at the moment because people get emotional (for example about wind or nuclear) and no-one talks about numbers. Or if they do mention numbers, they choose them selectively to sound big, to make an impression, and to score points in arguments, rather than to aid thoughtful discussion.
This is a book about the numbers. The aim is to guide the reader around the claptrap to policies and actions that really will make a difference.
Definitely give it a look — and realize that those consumption numbers far undershoot American consumption.