Watch here as Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson have an environmentalist row over global energy options:

Here is a key quote (with bolding being from us):

“So let’s look at this fourth factor — this is going to be a key one — and this is the amount of CO2 put out per each unit of energy. And so the question is, can you actually get that to zero? If you burn coal, no. If you burn natural gas, no. Almost every way we make electricity today, except for the emerging renewables and nuclear, puts out CO2. And so, what we’re going to have to do at a global scale, is create a new system. And so, we need energy miracles.

Now, when I use the term miracle, I don’t mean something that’s impossible. The microprocessor is a miracle. The personal computer is a miracle. The internet and it’s services are a miracle. So, the people here have participated in the creation of many miracles.”