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The United Nations just
released the updated IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report
with recommendations to policy-makers. They issued a dire warning: the world
is headed for increasing weather calamities. The
recommendation: shift away from carbon-based fuels now, and a "massive
shift to renewable energy." The GENI Initiative
has been advocating the interconnection of renewable energies between all
nations as the priority solution from the World Game™ simulation — a massive
shift to renewable energy!
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(Dark red and orange are the best solar sites) |
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(Dark
brown and orange are the best wind sites) |
The majority of greenhouse
gases (GHG) come from producing electricity from coal and natural gas, plus
using petroleum in our cars. Burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide,
which just surpassed 400ppm (parts per million) in our atmosphere. Deforestation
for farming and firewood produces 17% of GHG as the decaying wood releases its
stored carbon.
Yet the world is blessed
with an abundance of clean, renewable energy. These maps from 3TIER show the Global Solar Irradiance and Global
Mean Wind Speed at 80m elevation. There is no lack of renewable potential!
GENI has been producing
National Renewable Energy Maps using GIS (Geospatial Information Systems). We
have focused on 3 nations: U.S., China and India – as they produce the most
GHGs and must lead this shift to clean energy.
Equally important, these
renewable energies must be interconnected to the electric grid to deliver that
power to our cities and industry. Transmission lines act as the freeway for
these renewables to get to market.
We must start now. Delay will only
increase the difficulty and cost to achieve the target of 2oC (3.6oF)
maximum increase by 2050.
- Encourage your state
utility to make the shift to renewables,
- Buy green power when you can, and
- Invest
in clean energy companies.
Each of us makes energy choices daily – and
we need to think and act differently, quickly.
In Partnership for the Planet,
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