Surface Area Required to Power Bitcoin with Solar

Have you heard that the electricity used by Bitcoin will exceed 33 terrawatt-hours (TWh) in 2017? How many solar panels will we need to install just to keep up with the electricity demands of Bitcoin?  Electricity consumption by Bitcoin could increase to more than 500 TWh per year by the early 2020’s. In 2017, the land area required to power Bitcoin transactions with solar panels would more than cover the entire city of San Francisco.

Learn more about this infographic and see the full size PDF here.

Surface Area Required to Power California with 100% Renewable Energy

This graphic shows a diversified mix of renewable energy technologies and the impact in terms of land area in direct proportion to energy consumption by county (you can quickly see that Los Angeles County is the biggest consumer). Much of the infrastructure can be located within our cities—on rooftops and through creative and community-owned applications in public spaces. The rest could easily be located in the places that have already been disturbed by oil and gas extraction—the dark dots on the map.

Learn more about this infographic and see the full size PDF here.

The Era of Fossil Fuels

...is but a brief window of time on the scale of human history.
This graphic first shown at the DUCTAC gallery in Dubai in 2009.
Each year is represented by a small square and they are arranged chronologically from top left to bottom right. The time period shown spans from the first depiction of the human form in art through our post-carbon future based on a scenario in which we have exhausted all of the fossil fuel resources on the planet without regard for the impact of greenhouse gases on the Earth's climate. In reality, we must transition much sooner if we are to maintain average global temperature below the 2 degree threshold established in the COP 21 Accord in Paris.

Learn more about this infographic by reading the original blog post from 2009 here.

Solar VS Shale

This graphic shows that the surface area required to replace the energy contained within the extractable shale gas in the Marcellus formation is not much larger than the area of disturbed land on the surface required to maintain the hydraulic fracturing infrastructure that is so damaging to the natural environment and to drinking water resources. Measurements are based on a Btu comparison.

Learn more about this infographic in the original blog post here.

Solar VS Coal

This graphic shows that the land area required to produce solar power equaling the energy contained within the coal that is extracted through mountaintop removal mining is less than the areas impacted by the mining, which has destroyed thousands of acres of once pristine natural habitat and polluted countless streams with mining runoff.

Learn more about this infographic in the original blog post here.

Solar VS Tar Sands Oil

This graphic shows that the land area required to produce solar power equaling the energy contained within the Athabascan tar sands is less than the areas impacted by tar sands extraction, which has brought about the destruction of thousands of acres of Boreal forests and forever ruined the habitats of countless species of wildlife.

Learn more about this infographic in the original blog post here.

Surface Area Required to Power the World with Wind

A complement to the Solar version, this graphic shows how many offshore wind farms would be required to power the entire world economy using projected energy use in in the year 2030. The graphic assumes that wind is the sole source of power and that no on shore wind farms are in use. In reality other forms of renewable energy such as solar, water, and biofuels will be a part of a decarbonized world and much of the wind power generation will occur on shore.

Learn more about this infographic by reading the original solar power blog post (within which this is included) from 2009 here.

Surface Area Required to Offset Human-made CO2 through natural carbon sinks (reforestation)

Efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of development often rely on the use of carbon credits, which may include reforestation or the protection of forested land areas around the world. This graphic is meant to show that no amount of reforestation, greening, or sustainable agriculture can ever be on its own a solution to the emission of greenhouse gases by human activities. Rather, we must first take drastic actions to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels to a small fraction of current use, after which point in time carbon sinks may have a more measurable impact.

Learn more about this infographic in the original blog post here.