Comment on “Low-cost solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity for 145 countries” by M. Z. Jacobson, A. von Krauland, S. J. Coughlin, E. Dukas, A. J. H. Nelson, F. C. Palmer and K. R. Rasmussen, Energy Environ. Sci., 2022, 15, 3343–3359

Abstract

According to Jacobson et al. the energy transition from fossil fuels (Business as Usual, BAU) to energy using wind, water and sun (WWS) can be completed by the year 2050 at minimal costs and with a land occupation of less than 1% of the total land area. This claim relies on unrealistic assumptions and is therefore misleading. In their ambition to show the road to a better world without pollution from energy production, the authors stretched some basic underlying parameter values beyond what is physically possible. The authors wrongly excluded nuclear energy as an option.