Vaclav Smil
The realist by Paul Voosen,
Science 23 Mar 2018: Vol. 359, Issue 6382, pp. 1320-1324
Throughout his career from his home office near the University of
Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada,
Vaclav Smil
has profoundly influenced how a
generation of scientists, policymakers, executives, and philanthropists
think about energy in all forms. In particular, his focus has been on how
societies have transitioned from relying on one source of energy, such as
wood, to another, such as coal. Now, as the world faces the daunting
challenge of trying to curb climate change by weaning itself from fossil
fuels, Smil's work on energy transitions is getting more attention than
ever. But his message is not necessarily one of hope. Smil has forced
climate advocates to reckon with the vast inertia sustaining the modern
world's dependence on fossil fuels, and to question many of the rosy
assumptions underlying scenarios for a rapid shift to alternatives.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6382/1320
PDF download for AAAS members only.
Energy Transitions - Vaclav Smil, Energy 2030
Published on Mar 25, 2013
Energy transitions: a future without fossil energies is desirable, and it
is eventually inevitable, but the road from today's overwhelmingly
fossil-fueled civilization to a new global energy system based on
efficient conversions of renewable flows will be neither fast nor cheap.
Distinguished Professor and author Vaclav Smil explores technological
transitions of past, present and future that are critical for
understanding how to shift to a low carbon future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxO3s0U5WdY
1h14m34s
© Harm J. Schoonhoven Versie 11 juni 2019. Distributed under
MIT licence
.
