Why renewables can’t save the planet | Michael Shellenberger | TEDxDanubia

Why HN readers recommended it

HN commenters credit it with changing their minds on nuclear power and cite it for the downsides of renewables.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

TEDx Talks

Topic

nuclear versus renewable energy

Format

talk

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

3

HN mentions in dataset

5

Recommendation years in dataset

2019–2020

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• > Australia, with it's plentiful sunshine and wide open spaces It's funny, but that sounds an AWFUL lot like the Terra Nullius argument used to disposes Indigenous people of their land. Australia's "wide open spaces" are home to flora and fauna that are unique and …

• I recently watched a TED talk which changed my opinion of renewables from "maybe" to "no". Basically he argues that solar and wind are low density energy sources that require significant resources to capture, which all become waste after 25 years. Meanwhile we have nuclear …

• No energy source [that we've discovered so far] is perfect. All have downsides. Sadly, living in denial of that fact is more popular than ever, but that's a separate topic. Here are a couple TED talks showing the downside of renewable energy - such as …