Jacobson makes a convincing case that we can get everything we need through WWS: Wind (windmills), Water (Hydroelectric plants and also energy storage), and Sun (solar power and heat). He argues for electrifying everyone and everything, but locally (bypassing the need for long transmission lines). He also points out that stopgap requirements for oil, gas, or goal are misleading, because WWS systems are faster to bring up than fossil fuel ones. So they would be a stopgap if they existed, but they don’t. And even if they exist, that slows up the development of WWS.

He says (p. 382).
“The main barriers to a conversion to WWS worldwide are not technical, resource based, or economic. Instead they are political and social.”

This book describes how to solve the climate, air pollution, and energy security crises facing the world by using existing technologies. Written for everyone, it advises individuals, communities, and nations on what they can do to solve these problems, including the economic, health, climate, and land benefits of the solutions

NOTE

I consider this book to be important and persuasive. But not easy to read. It is loaded with data, statistics, and graphs. All are necessary to make the case, but their density makes it difficult to absorb the material without undergoing massive cognitive overload. So read the entire book (I did), but take it in small doses, one topic at a time.

From M. Jacobsen’s Website

https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WWSNoMN/NoMiracles.html

Stanford University 12-hour online course from 2023 based on the topics in this book: XEIET100. Stanford.io/windwatersolar

Stanford University 3-lecture online course from 2016 based on the topics in this book: XEIET200. online.stanford.edu/courses/xeiet200-planning-sustainable-future-wind-water-and-sun

From the publisher:
The world needs to turn away from fossil fuels and use clean, renewable sources of energy as soon as we can. Failure to do so will cause catastrophic climate damage sooner than you might think, leading to loss of biodiversity and economic and political instability. But all is not lost! We still have time to save the planet without resorting to ‘miracle’ technologies.

We need to wave goodbye to outdated technologies, such as natural gas and carbon capture, and repurpose the technologies that we already have at our disposal. We can use existing technologies to harness, store, and transmit energy from wind, water, and solar sources to ensure reliable electricity, heat supplies, and energy security. Find out what you can do to improve the health, climate, and economic state of our planet. Together, we can solve the climate crisis, eliminate air pollution and safely secure energy supplies for everyone.

The world confronts an existential challenge in responding to climate change, resulting in an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of the economy.

What will it take for new and advanced nuclear reactors to play a role in decarbonization? Nuclear power provides a significant portion of the world’s low-carbon electricity, and advanced nuclear technologies have the potential to be smaller, safer, less expensive to build, and better integrated with the modern grid. However, if the United States wants advanced nuclear reactors to play a role in its plans for decarbonization, there are many key challenges that must be overcome at the technical, economic, societal, and regulatory levels.

https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/26630/interactive/

The link above from the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine leads to a web page that has a brief interactive survey of the case for nuclear power and, at the very bottom, pointers to 8 reports that expand upon the issues.

A major issue not well covered in the main report is the problem of nuclear waste and the fuel cycle, the one feature that has caused the nuclear industry the most difficult issue to face. The main report states:

“Nuclear waste is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Nuclear fuel cycle issues were outside the scope of this report, but a recently published National Academies’ study covers that subject in detail. Merits and Viability of Different Nuclear Fuel Cycles and Technology Options and the Waste Aspects of Advanced Nuclear Reactors discusses nuclear fuel cycle options for both existing and advanced reactors, as well as nonproliferation and security considerations for these fuel cycles.”

The link to the report “Merits and viability ...” is at the bottom of the main page.