The head of the United Nations attacked fossil fuel companies Thursday, accusing them of betraying future generations and undermining efforts to phase out a product he called “incompatible with human survival.” Secretary-General António Guterres also dismissed suggestions by some oil executives — including the man tapped to chair this year’s international climate talks in Dubai — that fossil fuel firms can keep up production if they find a way to capture carbon emissions. It’s not the first time the U.N. chief has called out Big Oil over its role in causing global warming. But the blunt attack reflects growing frustration at the industry’s recent profit bonanza despite warnings from scientists that burning fossil fuels will push the world beyond any safe climate threshold.
Unfortunately renewables won’t quite get us there, because many of them have seasonal outputs and we don’t have any good ways of storing energy on a large scale. Wind, solar etc. can’t produce energy 24/7, and when there’s overproduction we can’t store it anywhere. There’s some interesting solutions like this Finnish company working on a sand battery but nothing that’s good to go right now.
Right now nuclear energy is the only good solution. I’d bet on small-scale modular reactors, at least if we can collectively get over the irrational fears many have about anything nuclear.
Unfortunately renewables won’t quite get us there, because many of them have seasonal outputs and we don’t have any good ways of storing energy on a large scale. Wind, solar etc. can’t produce energy 24/7, and when there’s overproduction we can’t store it anywhere. There’s some interesting solutions like this Finnish company working on a sand battery but nothing that’s good to go right now.
Right now nuclear energy is the only good solution. I’d bet on small-scale modular reactors, at least if we can collectively get over the irrational fears many have about anything nuclear.