# A reality check on renewables

- Institution: TED
- Department: TEDxWarwick
- Speaker: David MacKay
- Year: 2012
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Mathematics, Earth and environment
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/david_mackay_a_reality_check_on_renewables)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

How much land mass would renewables need to power a nation like the UK? An entire country's worth. In this pragmatic talk, David MacKay tours the basic mathematics that show worrying limitations on our sustainable energy options ... and explains why we should pursue them anyway.

## Lectures

1. [A reality check on renewables](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/david_mackay_a_reality_check_on_renewables/6487d5dc61de), 19 min (TED's player)