Ideas worth spreading

A reality check on renewables

595,182 views | David MacKay • TEDxWarwick

How much land mass would renewables need to power a nation like the UK? An entire country's worth. In this pragmatic talk, David MacKay tours the basic mathematics that show worrying limitations on our sustainable energy options ... and explains why we should pursue them anyway.

How much land mass would renewables need to power a nation like the UK? An entire country's worth. In this pragmatic talk, David MacKay tours the basic mathematics that show worrying limitations on our sustainable energy options ... and explains why we should pursue them anyway.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxWarwick, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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About the speaker

David MacKay

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As an information theorist and computer scientist, David MacKay uses hard math to assess our renewable energy options.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxWarwick, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.