After read/skimming
Sustainable Energy - without the hot air, here's what it boils down to:
POLICY:
-- We can get off oil, but it won't be easy.
-- We HAVE TO get off (dirty) coal.
-- Clean coal sucks. We may need it anyway, as a stopgap and not a primary solution. It's less energy-efficient than old methods, though it keeps
some of the carbon out of the atmosphere.
-- Nuclear, given today's technology, should not be considered renewable. It's not a long-term answer to our energy problems. We may need some of it anyway, but as a stopgap measure and not a primary solution.
-- Fusion would be SUPER SUPER AWESOME and might totally solve our energy problems. But we can't count on ever being able to make it work.
-- We cannot get off of non-renewable energy without saying YES, PUT THAT IN MY BACKYARD to something. Wind farms, solar farms, wave farms or the like.
-- We have to INCREASE energy production if we want to clean up the carbon mess we've made, because sequestration in less than 1000 years is not free.
-- We need better public transportation, better support for bikes and pedestrians, more energy R&D and a lot for energy infrastructure. The US can easily pay for what it needs to do if it stops fighting wars for a while. :P
PERSONAL:
-- The absolute best thing you can do to help: don't take plane trips.
-- Next: if you can't bulldoze your house and build a new one, see to its insulation, glazing, replace heat/AC with heat pumps.
-- Moderate your thermostat (whether you're in a leaky old building or not).
-- Drive less (unless in an electric car).
-- Buy less stuff in packaging.
-- Eat less or no meat (although frankly, mostly replacing cows with chickens in your diet does a lot to help... I don't think scientists are going to develop a more efficient cow)
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS NOT DISCUSSED:
-- While overpopulation got a mention in passing, there wasn't any serious suggestion to consider policies which encourage people to have fewer children, nor was "have fewer children" on the list of personal things to do. Too personal, maybe?
-- No mention of methods to cool the atmosphere that don't involve carbon sequestration. I know these are being studied.
-- No mention of Daylight Savings-like means to reduce energy consumption,although possibly these just can't ever work. A national two-hour siesta might be a really nice way to attempt to save energy... :D
-- No mention of "victory gardens" or choosing local goods over distantly produced goods, but perhaps this falls under "buy less stuff".
-- No analysis of city living vs. suburban living. Cities tend to be more energy efficient themselves, but require transportation to supply them.
-- No mention of telecommuting except in passing, though this could fall under "drive less" and "don't fly."
-- No mention of really radical technologies like programmable matter superconductors, although I can't blame him for that :D
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