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Sustainable Futures: What Kind of Mix?

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Abstract

Some hope that the expansion of renewables will allow for continued economic growth while escaping environmental constraints, a classic technical fix. However, there may be limits to economic growth other than energy resources and their impacts, while some think that a move to a more sustainable less growth-oriented economy will be needed. Scenarios based on that essentially decentralist approach, and on more conventional approaches, illustrate the differing implications for energy technology. Some, adopting an economic or technological deterministic view, say we have no real choices, but a rival contention is that there are choices as to the types of society and to the technical mix to sustain them. If the latter is true, we need to make choices soon.

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© 2015 David Elliott

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Elliott, D. (2015). Sustainable Futures: What Kind of Mix?. In: Green Energy Futures: A Big Change for the Good. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137584434_6

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