On the Futility of Sharply Reducing Carbon Emissions

According to the "Kaya Identity", there are only four ways in which a society can reduce carbon emissions; a) through population control, b) through a reduction in economic activity (i.e., a lower GDP), c) through increasing efficiency, and d) via an improvement in carbon intensity/the switching of energy sources. That's it, and if you think that the fourth option is any sort of grand panacea, get a load of this...................................................................................According to Roger Pielke's  book, "The Climate Fix", in order for the United Kingdom to reach its emission goals by 2015 (the book was written in 2010), it would have to close down X number of coal-fired power plants and replace them with 40 nuclear power facilities. For the United States to reach its emission goals (which are slightly less ambitious than Britain's) by 2020, it would have close down Y number of coal-fired power plants and replace them with 103 nuclear power facilities (there are currently only two under construction). And for the Australians to reach their emission goals by 2020, they would have to close down Z number of coal-fired power plants and replace them with 29,000 solar farms (the Australians don't do nuclear)....As those old GIs used to say when they were mocking the Japanese, "rotsa ruck".