The United States consumes power per land-area at a rate three times the average. Even though they are more energy efficient, densely populated industrial countries like Germany, Britain and Japan have even bigger power consumption per area. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
The only thing that really scales up apart from nuclear is solar power from other people’s deserts. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
Solving climate change is a complex topic, but in a single crude brush-stroke, here is the solution: the price of carbon dioxide must be such that people stop burning coal without capture. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
To have constructive conversations about the world’s energy options, one needs to take a calm look at the numbers. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
The amount of energy saved by switching off the phone charger is exactly the same as the energy used by driving an average car for one second. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
Most of physics is about energy, and physicists understand inefficiencies. I wanted to write a book about our energy options in a neutral, human-accessible form. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
I would like to help people have honest and constructive conversations about energy. We need to understand how much energy our modern lifestyles use, decide how much energy we would like to use in the future, and choose where we will get that energy from. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
We can’t be anti-everything – we need an energy plan that adds up. But there’s a lack of numeracy in the public discussion of energy. Where people do use numbers, they select them to sound big and score points in arguments, rather than to aid thoughtful discussion. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
Fusion power is speculative and experimental. I think it is reckless to assume that the fusion problem will be cracked, but I’m happy to estimate how much power fusion could deliver, if the problems are cracked. David J. C. MacKay Read Quote
