Yikes, those are some really bad assumptions. It's been a decade since I've read the book, so skimming now I'm seeing an awful lot of hot air in the assumptions that went into it.
For example, the mythical, never built, "clean coal" shows up in most of the potential scenarios for the UK! That was an obvious stinker back when the book was written, but to simultaneously give the benefit of the doubt to charlatans, and then misestimate solar and wind so much is pretty unforgivable.
I think we perhaps give the book too much credit because it converted everything into understandable units, which is the primary utility of the book. But that utility papers over a lot of really bad judgement, so using it as a guide for sustainable energy leads to really bad conclusions.
For example, the mythical, never built, "clean coal" shows up in most of the potential scenarios for the UK! That was an obvious stinker back when the book was written, but to simultaneously give the benefit of the doubt to charlatans, and then misestimate solar and wind so much is pretty unforgivable.
I think we perhaps give the book too much credit because it converted everything into understandable units, which is the primary utility of the book. But that utility papers over a lot of really bad judgement, so using it as a guide for sustainable energy leads to really bad conclusions.