Still, burning fossil fuels when better alternatives are available is extremely stupid, and playing around with the climate is a colossally bad idea exactly because of the we don't know for sure factor.
I beg your pardon, what better alternatives can replace fossil fuels now and in the foreseeable future?
The world's total energy production was 617 EJ in 2019, increasing at a 2% annual rate. Fossil fuels accounted for more than 81% of production in 2019, as in previous years (source: IEA, https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-balances-overview/world).
All hydro, nuclear, biofuels, wind, solar, and geothermal combined amounted to less than 19% combined, and the 80/20 ratio has been stagnating for years.
P.S. Please note that this is total energy production, including liquid fuels for transport, and not just electric generation.
Well you start with using less energy, to do more!
Sector specific but:
Transport -
* An electric vehicle will typically have a sticker rating of 100MPGe or above. That 20% of renewable energy goes a lot further when it charges a car compared to the equivalent in fossil fuels.
* Where you can't electrify fully you use hybrids or hydrogen vehicles. And encourage less use of cars, so stop building areas that are car dependent.
* Aircraft are tricky - in the short term carbon offsetting and capture will be necessary. In the longer term a shift towards biofuels, synthetic fuels and maybe hydrogen makes sense.
Heating -
* For home heating you promote lower internal temperatures (or higher in summer) combined with better insulation, underfloor heating and heatpumps. For older buildings that are impractical to insulate or convert to heatpumps you look at alternatives e.g. hydrogen gas burned in normal gas boilers/water heaters.
* For industrial heating you mandate a switch to heatpumps by a certain date, e.g. 2035 or so.
Electricity -
* Renewable electricity generation
* Seasonal energy storage
* Nuclear where practical/cost effective
* Decommission coal and natural gas plants as soon as grid stability criteria are met
* Home solar/battery and consumption management (encouraging usage when electricity in surplus: e.g. EVs that charge on off-peak electricity)
Agriculture -
* Use less land for cattle grazing and return that land to nature, planting new forests
* As has been mentioned, where cattle are raised, use a diet that produces less methane gas (but in general, try to shift away from ruminant mammals)
Industry -
* Carbon capture where feasible
* Moving to less carbon intensive processes, e.g. making concrete with hydrogen