So it increasingly it seems more and more likely we will continue to
use carbon based fuels until all these hurdles can be overcome.
I'm all for reducing CO2 production, ideally through a carbon tax (I know it won't happen anytime soon) Calling CO2 production «pollution» is misleading because CO2 is an irreducable end product of
burning carbon based fuels and NOT a by - product than can be reduced with improved combustion and after treatment of the exhaust.
If Decent House with site sourced power at some point undercuts first cost of Passive House and yet yields an equivalent reduction in
carbon based fuel dependency, the Decent House will win via economics.
In defining the problem as
manmade carbon based fuels, rather than climate change due to all known and yet to be determined causes.
All that aside, as the price of oil rises inexorably (as Charlie Munger said) solar use will grow and someday will pull even economically
with carbon based fuels.
For sure but following on from John's point, we are going to run out
of carbon based fuel in the not too distant future.
In turn people will have to make a choice to conserve or move to non carbon sources because they will not be able to afford
the carbon based fuels.
We will need the expertise of the fossil fuel industry as switch from
a carbon based fuel economy to a non-carbon based fuel economy.
Even if we wanted to lower global temperatures by not burning
any carbon based fuels, we couldn't.
A carbon based fuel when burnt combines with oxygen to produce 3.15 times its weight in carbon dioxide.
All carbon based fuels produce carbon dioxide when burned.
The UN Report on climate change on November 2, 2014, stated that the unregulated use of
carbon based fuels must cease by the end of the century.