Vaclav Smil
Czech-Canadian scientist and policy analyst, born 9 December 1943 in Plzeň; Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba, studying energy, environment, food, population and the history of technical change.
Vaclav Smil did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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Batteries are a long way from rivalling liquid fuels; superbatteries for intercontinental flight may not arrive even by 2070
But even if that trend continues for the next 50 years, we would still see top densities of about 3,500 Wh/L, no more than a third that of kerosene. The wait for superbatteries ready to power intercontinental flight may not be over by even 2070.
spectrum.ieee.orgSaid 29 Nov 2022This on korrents
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Hydroelectricity still matters more than any other form of renewable generation
And hydro still matters more than any other form of renewable generation.
spectrum.ieee.orgSaid 27 Oct 2022This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 8 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Batteries are a long way from rivalling liquid fuels; superbatteries for intercontinental flight may not arrive even by 2070
But even if that trend continues for the next 50 years, we would still see top densities of about 3,500 Wh/L, no more than a third that of kerosene. The wait for superbatteries ready to power intercontinental flight may not be over by even 2070.
Waiting for Superbatteries (IEEE Spectrum, Numbers Don’t Lie) Said 29 Nov 2022
Hydroelectricity still matters more than any other form of renewable generation
And hydro still matters more than any other form of renewable generation.
Why Is Hydroelectricity So Green, and Yet Unfashionable? (IEEE Spectrum, Numbers Don’t Lie) Said 27 Oct 2022
Treating wind and solar as purer green power than hydro is strange, given the embodied energy wind projects require
This ennoblement is strange, given that wind projects require enormous quantities of embodied energy in the form of steel for towers, plastics for blades, and concrete for foundations.
Why Is Hydroelectricity So Green, and Yet Unfashionable? (IEEE Spectrum, Numbers Don’t Lie) Said 27 Oct 2022
Show 5 more
Dams did not deserve their reversal of fortune; there is no need to build megastructures
I never understood why dams have suffered such a reversal of fortune. There is no need to build megastructures, with their inevitable undesirable effects.
Why Is Hydroelectricity So Green, and Yet Unfashionable? (IEEE Spectrum, Numbers Don’t Lie) Said 27 Oct 2022
Seeing the energy transition as a bounded task of replacing carbon fuels is perhaps the most consequential category mistake today
Today, no category mistake is perhaps more consequential than the all-too-common view of the global energy transition. The error is to think of the transition as the discrete, well-bounded task of replacing carbon fuels by noncarbon alternatives.
Taming the Climate Is Far Harder Than Getting People to the Moon (IEEE Spectrum, Numbers Don’t Lie) Said 29 Sept 2022
Unlike the Manhattan Project or Apollo, decarbonizing the energy supply affects the whole economy and everyone's lives
But difficult and costly as those two endeavors were, they affected only small parts of the economy, their costs were relatively modest, and the lives of average citizens were hardly affected. It is just the opposite for the decarbonization of the energy supply.
Taming the Climate Is Far Harder Than Getting People to the Moon (IEEE Spectrum, Numbers Don’t Lie) Said 29 Sept 2022
Fully displacing the fossil-fuel system will directly affect every person and industry, at stupendous cost
Ours is an overwhelmingly fossil-fueled civilization, and the size and complexity of our extensive supersystem of fuel extraction, processing, distribution, storage, and conversion means that a complete displacement of it will directly affect every person and every industry, not least the growing of food and the long-distance transport of goods and people. The costs will be stupendous.
Taming the Climate Is Far Harder Than Getting People to the Moon (IEEE Spectrum, Numbers Don’t Lie) Said 29 Sept 2022
Nobody can reliably account for the eventual cost of the global energy transition
Of course, nobody can provide a reliable account of the eventual cost of global energy transition because we do not know the ultimate composition of the new primary energy supply.
Taming the Climate Is Far Harder Than Getting People to the Moon (IEEE Spectrum, Numbers Don’t Lie) Said 29 Sept 2022
What is a korrent?
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Where they publish
Site vaclavsmil.com His own site: books, translations and short notes.
Lists his books, new editions and translations, with occasional short posts about his work.
Link verified 3 Oct 2026.
Elsewhere spectrum.ieee.org Numbers Don’t Lie, his monthly IEEE Spectrum column.
Short quantitative essays on energy, technology, food and the material world, published monthly.
Link verified 3 Oct 2026.
About the English under a post
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