By 2050, the planet could be powered entirely by renewable sources. Mark Jacobson, a professor at Stanford University, presented his proposal for a worldwide investment plan to generate electricity solely from renewable sources at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, one of the most important events in the world for discussing climate change.

139 nations powered by renewables alone

According to Mark Jacobson, a world powered entirely by renewable sources is feasible both technically and economically. The Stanford professor outlined to the scientific community a plan to fully power 139 countries around the world, doing so by calculating energy needs in terms of electricity, transport, heating, cooling, industry, agriculture, forestry and fishing. The solution is an energy mix comprising 58 per cent solar, 37 per cent wind, 4 per cent hydroelectric power and 1 per cent geothermal, wave and tidal energy.

What the world would look like running on renewable energy alone

Professor Jacobson is convinced that if the 139 nations he studied were to commit to making their energy 100 per cent clean, it would be possible to:

1. by 2030, produce 80 per cent of energy cleanly by replacing polluting sources, reaching 100 per cent clean energy by 2050
2. reduce energy consumption by 42.5 per cent by improving the energy ratio and efficiency, and reducing extractive activity
3. create 24.3 million jobs that have been lost
4. eliminate 3.5 million premature deaths per year caused by air pollution, and save $23,000 billion (7.6 per cent of US GDP) spent every year through to 2050 on healthcare costs attributable to air pollution (the World Bank, in a study published in 2016, estimated that in 2013 air pollution killed 5.5 million people, with non-medical welfare costs of more than $5,000 billion)
5. save $28,500 billion per year in avoided costs from climate change, spent on trying to keep global warming below 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial temperature levels
6. reduce wars linked to energy
7. decentralise energy production, with the consequent reduction in power outages, terrorist threats to energy installations and energy poverty in some countries.

Over $120,000 billion in investment, but the returns are guaranteed

The cost of converting 139 countries to renewable energy by 2050 has been estimated at $124,700 billion. But savings must also be factored in — in economic, environmental and health terms, and for the future of our planet. Jacobson estimated that, if we were to use only wind, solar and hydroelectric energy, we would save around $85 per person per year on electricity bills through to 2050. And if savings from the reduction of air pollution and climate change costs were to be expressed in economic terms, each of us would save a further $5,800 per year.

Just 1 per cent of the planet's surface for 100 per cent renewables

Jacobson's proposed plan would require the creation and use of approximately 653,200 square kilometres of offshore wind turbines, 1,105,000 square kilometres of onshore wind, and 87,410 square kilometres of photovoltaic solar panels to be placed on our rooftops, along with a further 260,500 square kilometres of photovoltaic and concentrated solar energy systems — equivalent to 1 per cent of the Earth's land surface.

No new dams, no biomass or nuclear power plants

Jacobson's project does not include stationary storage systems, biomass power plants or nuclear power plants; there would be no need to consider carbon capture systems or natural gas; nor would it be necessary to build new dams — only to improve the efficiency of existing ones. Considerable emphasis would be placed on electric transport, new technologies, improvements to the efficiency of heating and cooling systems, and the study of efficient devices and equipment for industry. Aircraft flying at under 600 kilometres per hour could be electric, while those covering longer distances would be powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

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