Beating fossil fuels addiction will be easier than the numbers show
Misunderstanding energy measurement dramatically overplays the difficulty of meeting global clean-energy goals
London — The way we think about how much fossil fuels contribute to our energy mix overplays its utility. That is because much of the energy from burning fossil fuels is lost as waste heat and noise, or “just sound and fury, signifying nothing”, as BloombergNEF’s Colin McKerracher puts it.
The average efficiency of coal power plants globally is about 33%, according to the World Coal Association. That is, only a third of the energy stored in the black lumps is converted to electricity. Many modern internal combustion engine cars have an efficiency of about 20%, transforming only a fifth of petrol’s energy into motion...
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