Was the technology available where the world could have actually gone green sooner without a long term impact on society?

Question

It’s 2023, we are witnessing a huge shift towards clean energy and tons of money and research is being poured into renewables.

But it’s got me thinking, if we did this 20-30 years ago would all the new technology we see today be pretty standard by 2023? Or has there been some big innovations in recent years that would’ve only had been possible in recent times?

A couple examples

Batteries, we are still yet to fully utilise these for energy grid storage and electric vehicles are only now just getting up to the range that a petrol car can do. Would that have been possible in the past considering the first commercial lithium ion battery was released in the 90s?Solid state batteries seem to be like a real boost for renewables yet they are still to be properly used.

Solar panels, wind turbines and other power generation technology. Would they be stock standard or was their efficiency and cost just not possible to overcome until recent times?

Airplanes and other long haul transport, biofuels are what seems to the most likely alternative unless batteries get much better. But these seem to be much later down the track.

In: 403

Answer 1

Yes, it’s called nuclear energy. We could have been COMPLETELY GREEN, except for transport and plastics, 50 years ago.

But no one cared, and now we are here.

Answer 2

Well we’re still mostly ignoring the most effective ways of combating climate change – reducing consumption, land use and energy use. We could at least halve the rate of climate change and fully stop the loss of biodiversity without any new tech, just with the tech we already had in say, early 90s.

The average American, for example, consumer throws away tens of kilos of clothes, eats 270 pounds of meat a year, drives way too much, and so on.

We’ll not be able to solve climate change and the loss of biodiversity without sweeping changes to our consumption habits. No amount of installing solar panels or wind generators is going to be enough.

Answer 3

I definitely think yes. A small example in the midst of many of th big ones.

You say would this technology be available now as standard.

So Toyota made the prius in like 08 or 06 that was hybrid. Not full electric but the start of a cleaner vehicle. It’s only quite recently other cars followed suit and have even gone full electric. All they all did it then we’d probably have gone full electric by 2011 or something