Renewables… such as… wind turbines? Made from… well, lookee here, hydrocarbons!

Well, I suppose this explains your lack of accuracy about renewables. Really. You think that the power source of wind power is the turbine?!?!?!?

ROFLMAO!

Answer: not very. At their most productive, they are only about 30% efficient

Get in the 21st Century, boy. 40% and growing. Meanwhile nuclear, for example, manages only about 60% efficiency.

Natural gas is a proven winner;

You misspelt “fossil fuel” and “non-renewable”.

with minimal CO2 emissions

You mean “lots of CO2 emissions”.

and there is rather a lot of it lying under our feet

So much, that is, until they start drilling for it, then the reserves drop 80%…

almost begging to be released

By which you mean “Needs forcing out of the rock with toxic chemicals and huge amounts of water”. And you already whine and whinge about hosepipe bans…

We have centuries of inexpensive fuel under our feet

We have billions of years of inexpensive fuel running over our coastlines.

Experts have been predicting the demise of oil in about 30 years since, well, about 1860.

Only 100 years out of date!

ROFLMAO!!!

And the USA reached peak oil in the 1970′s. As an example. We reached peak oil since some time in the 2000′s worldwide. There’s a reason why Saudi Arabia don’t let anyone see their reports on their reserves.

remember, the CO2 levels are still rising, but the temperature has remained pretty steady for 16 years

Entirely and utterly false.

For example, from 2011-2012, the temperature trend was 0.6C per decade.

So, how reliable are wind turbines? Answer: not very. At their most productive, they are only about 30% efficient, however, their most frequent contribution is NIL. So, they cost more in energy to erect than they will ever return. Sounds wise to… well, you, for one, Wow. Duh.

Solar cells? Requiring rare earth metals, similar problems as above. I have a friend who asked about installation onto his house; cost: £15,000. How long would it take to return that investment? Probably never. Double duh.

Natural gas is a proven winner; it burns cleanly and efficiently, with minimal CO2 emissions, and there is rather a lot of it lying under our feet, almost begging to be released. So, what do we do? In the UK; nothing. We have centuries of inexpensive fuel under our feet, and we do nothing. Why? “Because it has not been tested…” or similar such excuses. But it has; the USA has been fracking shale for years, bringing fuel costs down 25% – that is £20 per month off an average UK home gas bill. Not forgetting the knock-on of cheaper gas also meaning cheaper electricity. Oooh, triple duh.

Of course, oil is about to run out. Experts have been predicting the demise of oil in about 30 years since, well, about 1860. So, about 150 years of “soon to run out”, yet we keep finding more: under Utah and Colorado, the Green River Formation holds at least as much oil as the entire world’s proven reserves; in the Black Sea, Romania and the Ukraine are quibbling over the territorial rights for another vast field; under the Aegean lies a field at least the size of the Saudi fields.

While I do agree that more education is needed for the preservation of species and environments, we do not need to worry about our energy reserves, or that its use will seriously affect the climate – remember, the CO2 levels are still rising, but the temperature has remained pretty steady for 16 years. Has it peaked or has it stalled? We can only wait and see. Need we be worried? No.

Duh.

Oh, and if you’re now so worried about the environment, I would suggest you move to Africa and live off the land with minimal footprint.

Also, what do you mean by “clean”, bearing in mind that anything we do will have some negative impact upon the environment? What do you mean by “renewable”, bearing in mind that there is no such thing as perpetual motion?

Lyle presents a good argument; natural gas does seem to offer a viable solution for the foreseeable future, while nuclear keeps tantalising us, in much the same way as Tantalus was – nearly there, but never quite. However, the oil resources keep on growing; why give up on a proven winner?

Solar power turning photons at 6000K into energy.

Just saying.

Oh, and you know all that whining about China building 1000 coal power stations? Remember your “Modern builds are more efficient” and remember to note when complaining about China about how many coal plants they are closing, m’kay?