Ideas change everything

A reality check on renewables

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David MacKay |

TEDxWarwick

• March 2012

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.

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Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

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.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

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.

About the speaker

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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.