Carbon-free energy? Already in progress, says Nature.

Darkfrog submitted, created time 4 months 3 weeks (www.nature.com)

Here, Nature magazine gives an overview of the several different means of generating electricity without releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Increasing the efficiency of existing fossil fuel systems is also given its due.

Once again, we see why Nature is at the very top of science writing. Take a look at this:

"The fact that hydroelectric systems require no fuel means that they also require no fuel-extracting infrastructure and no fuel transport. This means that a gigawatt of hydropower saves the world not just a gigawatt's worth of coal burned at a fossil-fuel plant, but also the carbon costs of mining and transporting that coal."

Sensible, elegant, concise... This piece is a work of art. It was composed by a five-person team: Quirin Schiermeier, Jeff Tollefson, Tony Scully , Alexandra Witze and Oliver Morton.

Keywords: fuel energy alternative energy alternative fuels carbon footprint greenhouse gases greenhouse effect ecology electricity global warming global climate change hydroelectric power solar power solar cells wind energy