Top 12 Quotes by Christopher Flavin

The real potential of electricity lies not in providing social amenities but in stimulating long-term economic development

The real potential of electricity lies not in providing social amenities but in stimulating long-term economic development

Christopher Flavin

Real, Lying, Long

Christopher Flavin (1986). “Electricity for a developing world: new directions”, Worldwatch Inst

Sometimes electricity provides unexpected benefits. In a remote village in China's Fujian province in which young men have traditionally had a hard time finding wives, the arrival of electricity has attracted more brides

Christopher Flavin

Hard Times, Men, Wife

Urgency and vision are the twin pillars on which humanity's hope now hangs.

Christopher Flavin

Humanity, Vision, Climate

Christopher Flavin, Amanda Chiu, Lisa Mastny (2008). “Low-carbon Energy: A Roadmap”, p.36, Worldwatch Institute

Building a world where we meet our own needs without denying future generations a healthy society is not impossible, as some would assert. The question is where societies choose to put their creative efforts

Christopher Flavin

Future, Effort, Creative

Renewable biofuels are meanwhile making inroads in the transportation fuels market and are beginning to have a measurable impact on demand for petroleum fuels, contributing to a decline in oil consumption in the United States in particular starting in 2006... The 93 billion liters of biofuels produced worldwide in 2009 displaced the equivalent of an estimated 68 billion liters of gasoline, equal to about 5 percent of world gasoline production.

Christopher Flavin

Oil, Impact, Fuel

The sunlight ... that strikes Earth’s land surface in two hours is equivalent to total human energy use in a year. While much of that sunlight becomes heat, solar energy is also responsible for the energy embodied in wind, hydro, wave, and biomass, each with the potential to be harnessed for human use. Only a small portion of that enormous daily, renewable flux of energy will ever be needed by humanity.

Christopher Flavin

Years, Wind, Land

Improved energy productivity and renewable energy are both available in abundance—and new policies and technologies are rapidly making them more economically competitive with fossil fuels. In combination, these energy options represent the most robust alternative to the current energy system, capable of providing the diverse array of energy services that a modern economy requires. Given the urgency of the climate problem, that is indeed convenient.

Christopher Flavin

Technology, Alternatives, Fuel

The challenge now is to renovate the baroque structure that the Kyoto Plan has become—or else scrap it and get ready to start all over.

Christopher Flavin

Kyoto, Challenges, Structure

The bottom of the oil barrel is now visible.

Christopher Flavin

Oil, Energy, Alternatives

Christopher Flavin (1985). “World Oil: Coping With the Dangers of Success”, Worldwatch Inst

Already, China's world-leading solar industry provides water heating for 35 million buildings, and India's pioneering use of rainwater harvesting brings clean water to tens of thousands of homes.

Christopher Flavin

Home, Water, India

The 1,230 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power generating capacity in place at the end of 2009 now constitutes just over 25 percent of total generating capacity worldwide. This is over three times nuclear generating capacity and roughly 38 percent of the capacity of fossil fuel-burning power plants worldwide.

Christopher Flavin

Burning, Fuel, Fossils