Numbers, not adjective

For the 1st chapter of his book, Sustainability without Hot Air, David J MacKay named it "Numbers, not Adjectives". Within this section also, he wrote:

This heated debate is fundamentally about numbers. How much energy could each source deliver, at what economic and social cost, and with what risks? But actual numbers are rarely mentioned. In public debates, people just say “Nuclear is a money pit” or “We have a huge amount of wave and wind.” The trouble with this sort of language is that it’s not sufficient to know that something is huge: we need to know how the one “huge” compares with another “huge,” namely our huge energy consumption. To make this comparison, we need numbers, not adjectives.

In many cases, the use of numbers can be misleading, as they are often presented in a way that emphasizes their scale rather than their actual significance. Numbers are sometimes selected more for their impact in debates, aiming to impress or win an argument, rather than to genuinely enlighten or inform the discussion.

This site is envisioned as a platform for initiating discussions on decarbonization across various industries and aspects. We aim to present topics rich in quantifiable data, allowing for a thorough evaluation and understanding. Our goal is to offer ample information, not just to enlighten but also to facilitate informed debates about the directions and nuances of decarbonization. By focusing on concrete numbers, we hope to contribute to a more informed and productive discourse in this crucial field.