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Energy alternatives: Electricity without carbon

Nature volume 454, pages 816–823 (2008)Cite this article

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Electricity generation provides 18,000 terawatt-hours of energy a year, around 40% of humanity's total energy use. In doing so it produces more than 10 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide every year, the largest sectoral contribution of humanity's fossil-fuel derived emissions. Yet there is a wide range of technologies — from solar and wind to nuclear and geothermal — that can generate electricity without net carbon emissions from fuel.

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References

  1. Key World Energy Statistics 2007 (International Energy Agency, 2007).

  2. Hohmeyer, O. & Trittin, T. (eds) Proc. IPCC Scoping Meeting on Renewable Energy Sources 20–25 January 2008, Lübeck, Germany (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2008).

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  3. Smil, V. Energy in Nature and Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems (MIT Press, 2008).

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Authors
  1. Quirin Schiermeier
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  2. Jeff Tollefson
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  3. Tony Scully
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  4. Alexandra Witze
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  5. Oliver Morton
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Additional information

See Editorial, page 805Reported and written by Quirin Schiermeier, Jeff Tollefson, Tony Scully, Alexandra Witze and Oliver Morton.

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IEA energy statistics

BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2008

World Energy Council 2007 report

Global Energy Technology Strategy Program

IPCC scoping meeting on renewable energy resources

IPCC Fourth Assessment report, Working group III

Vaclav Smil’s homepage

David MacKay’s sustainable energy site

International Hydropower Association

MIT report on the future of nuclear power

OECD Biofuels report

MIT report on the future of geothermal power

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Schiermeier, Q., Tollefson, J., Scully, T. et al. Energy alternatives: Electricity without carbon. Nature 454, 816–823 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/454816a

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