We've got only a few decades to save the world: Somewhere between 2030 and 2050, if current trends persist, atmospheric CO2 levels will hit 500 parts per million, temperatures will rise 2 degrees, and the Greenland ice cap will begin turning to slush, causing sea levels to rise 20 feet.
It doesn't have to be that way, not if we accelerate our adoption of renewables. So we've devised a diet to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and onto a healthy mix of solar, wind, biofuels, and other guilt-free energy alternatives. If we hit these targets, carbon emissions — otherwise expected to double in the next three decades — could drop 30 percent by 2030.
These goals are ambitious but not unreasonable; they don't rely on any deus ex machina-style breakthrough discoveries. They do, however, assume a steadily rising flow of investment in cleantech. That's because, ultimately, the problem is not one of technology but of will. A committed desire to switch to renewables is the only thing we need to free us from our carbon chains.
Sources: European Renewable Energy Council, Greenpeace, International Energy Agency, US Energy Information Administration
FEATURE 
One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil 
The Formula: From Grass to Gas 
4 Technologies on the Brink 
Silicon Valley Cleans Up: A Wired Flowchart
