Wow. These guys are gloomy.
http://www.bioticregulation.ru/common/pdf/energy08.pdf
mt
"It is commonly assumed that the environmental stability can be preserved if one
manages to switch to ‘‘clean’’, pollution-free energy resources, with
no change in, or
even increasing, the total energy consumption rate of the
civilization. Such an approach
ignores the fact that the environmental stability is regionally and
globally controlled by
the functioning of natural ecosystems on land and in the ocean. This
means that the
climate and environment can only remain stable if the anthropogenic pressure on
natural ecosystems is diminished, which is unachievable without
reducing the global
rate of energy consumption. If the modern rate of anthropogenic pressure on the
ecosystems is sustained, it will be impossible to mitigate the
degradation of climate
and environment even after changing completely to ‘‘clean’’
technologies (e.g., to the
‘‘zero emissions’’ scenario).
"It is shown that under the limitation of preserving environmental stability,
the available renewable energy resources (river hydropower, wind
power, tidal power,
solar power, power of the thermohaline circulation, etc.) can in total
ensure no more
than one tenth of the modern energy consumption rate of the civilization, not to
compromise the delivery of life-important ecosystem services by the
biosphere to the
humanity."
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