[supercarrot]

"China aims to have 100 gigawatts (GW) of wind power capacity by 2020, and the nation’s leaders plan to expand installed solar capacity to 20 GW during the same period. These are truly astonishing goals, and, if China even comes close to accomplishing them, it will become the world’s renewable energy leader. But there is a problem. Total Chinese electricity generation capacity is 900 GW currently; with seven percent [GDP] growth, that means the nation’s electricity demand in 2020 will be something like 1800 GW. Wind and solar together would supply less than seven percent of that. The only thing likely to boost that percentage much would be a dramatic reduction in growth of energy demand to, say, two percent annually."

I like this from The End of Growth (2011) by Richard Heinberg.

As much as the numbers are incredible we are really undermining the amount of energy produced by fossil sources.

Similar problem with nuclear.

Are we really on the exponential road to sustainability? I hope so.

[greglindahl]

This quote isn't recent, is it? Because it takes 10 years of 7% growth to double[1], and China's economy is becoming less energy intensive over time, so no, it's not going to double power usage in 4 years.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_72

[supercarrot]

2011. I'll edit it.