PANT THE MYTH:

When it comes to emissions, the story is pretty simple: we'll generate emissions while we build new energy infrastructure, but we'll avoid a lot more by not burning fossil fuels. At most, we could generate up to 29 billion metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions building renewable-energy infrastructure. That's less than one year's worth of the world's emissions from fossil fuels today. And the story might turn out even better if we can work out how to cut emissions from steel and cement production or establish robust recycling for some key materials. 

As for environmental harms beyond climate-related pollution, the picture can be more complicated, and we'll get more into this when we address the last myth. But for now, let's consider the sheer mass of mining needed for fossil fuels and for renewable energy. 

About 7.5 billion metric tons of coal were mined in 2021. Estimates for the maximum amount of materials we'll need annually to build low-emissions energy infrastructure top out at about 200 million metric tons, including all the cement, aluminum, steel, and even glass that needs to be produced. 

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