One of the main reasons we as a society care about renewables is that we need to reduce CO2 emissions (and I'd like to think we care about others too). This article doesn't mention anything about how much less CO2 is now being released. If we take EPA numbers from 2022, assume that they represent 100% non-renewable energy, take the 25% of those numbers that represent electricity generation and reduce the total.of that proportion we have a reduction of approximately 8% CO2 emissions. Great!
So why do our emissions keep increasing year over year?
A political economic system which requires infinite growth to sustain itself, requires growth in consumption, and production. If emissions go down, some industry will suffer (namely oil and gas), so their products must be used elsewhere. A collapse of the oil and gas industry would be an economic nightmare the way we currently organize our economy.
And that is why we need to move beyond capitalism.
One of the main reasons we as a society care about renewables is that we need to reduce CO2 emissions (and I'd like to think we care about others too). This article doesn't mention anything about how much less CO2 is now being released. If we take EPA numbers from 2022, assume that they represent 100% non-renewable energy, take the 25% of those numbers that represent electricity generation and reduce the total.of that proportion we have a reduction of approximately 8% CO2 emissions. Great!
So why do our emissions keep increasing year over year?
A political economic system which requires infinite growth to sustain itself, requires growth in consumption, and production. If emissions go down, some industry will suffer (namely oil and gas), so their products must be used elsewhere. A collapse of the oil and gas industry would be an economic nightmare the way we currently organize our economy.
And that is why we need to move beyond capitalism.