For $12 Trillion, Everything Can Go Right

We could power almost the entire world on renewables in just 40 years. It will just cost a little more than $12 trillion. Chump change to save the planet, or an inconcievable pile of money?

Right now, according to a soon-to-be-released UN Report, we get about 64 exajoules of power from renewables (not counting nuclear or "biofuels," which is people burning wood and still releases carbon). The U.N. says that--if all things go right--we should be making 400 exajoules by 2050. An exajoule is a technical term for a really large amount of energy. Current demand is 492 exajoules. That will go up, but we'll be at nearly 80% of all our power with our 400 exajoules of 2050 renewable power.

What do we need to get there? A mere $12 trillion (including $5.1 trillion before 2020). Don't get sticker shock. First of all, remember what you get: No one freaking out about climate change any more (and the chance for continued life for everyone, which could be nice). More importantly, $12 trillion isn't that much money. The national debt is $14 trillion. The national debt is huge, of course, but it's reassuring to know that numbers that high can be reached in a normal economic situation. Even $14 trillion isn't that big: A new report found that "total wealth among millionaire households could more than double over the
next decade in 25 major economies, growing from an estimated $92
trillion this year to $202 trillion in 2020." We just need to get a few millionaires together, and we can pass the hat to get enough money to boost our renewable production.

The real question is: are the U.N. projections too optimistic? The 400 exajoules are at the more starry-eyed end of its projections. No one is going to write a $12 trillion check tomorrow, so it's going to have to roll in slowly, as the business opportunities become more apparent. But if they're projecting that it's simply a question of money--not technological know-how--that's easy. If there is one thing we're good at, it's throwing money at a problem.

Photo from Flickr user Kevin Krejci