Green Power Math

Short and concise assessment of the impossible math of going totally "green" and getting rid of fossil fuels.

When I first read it I was curious about the 1.7 PWh of fossil fuel usage and how the author got that number.  By using the first data source reference, you get the energy consumption of CA in 2019.  Adding the first 7 rows which are the fossil fuels, you get 5.7 trillion BTU's.  Converting that to Wh gives you 1.7 PWh.

 

Note that motor fuel accounts for 1.7 trillion BTU's.  So just replacing all cars and trucks would need 30% of the added power generation.  I.e. one nuclear plant every 9 weeks from now until 2030.  Sounds doable.