Dear @nicksikorski. Thank you for your elaborate answer. This is very much appreciated! And don't worry. I never took this personal and am always interested in other peoples views. AND: we basically are on the exact same page..

We both as Permaculturists have the same education and stand behind our believes with a lot of knowlege and working solutions for many problems that need to be adressed NOW. Plus you are apperantly a big fan of Geoff Lawton, just like me.

Generally only decentralization is the answer for the big problems of our planet, so solar and wind energy for a house / homestead are great. I especially like you pointing out that wind also blows at night! Well played :D And decentralization is also so important, so that big companies like the one you cite from Japan won‘t be able to ONLY working for their own financial benefit, but would have to compete with other qualities, as the decentralized neighbouring models would set the standard...

Still I give this research more credibility than other studies, as some unexpected answers where found and not only a small team of data analytics where sitting in an institute, but a vast amount of collaborators from all over the world also including geologists, botanists, biologists, artists, activists, politicians, teachers and so on where taking part in this research and analysis..

Yet I have a question about your very interesting point about an imperialistic echo in science nowadays. Would you see Hawkens pointing out the solutions A: educating women and B: giving them the chance to plan their families as nothing else, but pointing the finger at the 3rd world? I would never have thought about that, yet with your words the fassade of these solutions starts to crumble a bit..

But please let me answer with the sudy to your top 3 CO2 problems:

You put erosion at no1. Hawkens does‘t explicitly address it. But Regenerative Agriculture is on place 11 of 100; Tree Intercroppings is on place 17 of 100; and Farmland Resoration on place 23 of 100.

You put deforestation at no 2. Hawkens puts Tropical Forests on place 5 of 100; Solvopasture on place 9 of 100; Temperate Forests on place 12 of 100; Afforestation on place 15 of 100. So they are very prominent.

You put pollution at no 3. Hawkens puts Refrigeration Management on place 1 of 100, as chemical compounds from any cooling machine are the heaviest grrenhouse gasses.

As you see I am still not quite convinced that we are looking at an other „standard“ research, quasi payed by companies and escorted by politics, but at a different kind of study, focussing on real solutions with propper backup. I understand your anger towards ivory towers academics, yet there is always an exception to the rule..

Last but not least, as I could not properly remember why, but had the feeling Geoff himself spread the word for this study once and I now remembered: Geoff himself recommendet this study in one of his Friday Five blog posts in June 2017. Him posting about it, is showing how Permaculture-compatible the outcome of this study is.
And as I was a student of Geoff Lawton for more than half a year I know his take on global warming and I share this 100%. That's why I like this study so much, as it puts the "Food" sector at number one of the solutions. That very powerful fact made me think, that Mr. Hawkens did his research right..

All the best to you Nick.
With best reguards.
Moritz