Excellent piece. And it drives home the crucial point that so much of our existing industrial capacity is locked in fossil fuels, so attempts to aggressively scale up renewables without any corresponding downscaling or adjustments in other economic sectors have, unfortunately, led to the burning of even more fossil fuels, not less. That's why the term "energy transition" can't just be about shifting fuel inputs for industrial civilization, from fossil fuel sources to renewable energy sources. It also has to come with a broader examination of energy scale dynamics, and the constraints we need to impose on the aggregate energy scales of our societies so that modern civilization can better promote the thermodynamic, geochemical, and ecological stability of the planetary biosphere.
Thank you. I agree. Over the past few years, I’ve engaged in numerous discussions about the so-called "energy transition." The term transition suggests a shift from one energy system to another—typically from fossil fuels to renewables. Yet, in practice, what we’re witnessing looks more like energy addition than replacement.
Most energy transition plans assume we can decarbonise and keep growing—more electric cars, more solar panels, more data centres. But growth has physical limits. Renewables still require energy and finite materials. So, in economic terms, a true energy transition requires rethinking consumption, not merely diversifying supply.
Excellent piece. And it drives home the crucial point that so much of our existing industrial capacity is locked in fossil fuels, so attempts to aggressively scale up renewables without any corresponding downscaling or adjustments in other economic sectors have, unfortunately, led to the burning of even more fossil fuels, not less. That's why the term "energy transition" can't just be about shifting fuel inputs for industrial civilization, from fossil fuel sources to renewable energy sources. It also has to come with a broader examination of energy scale dynamics, and the constraints we need to impose on the aggregate energy scales of our societies so that modern civilization can better promote the thermodynamic, geochemical, and ecological stability of the planetary biosphere.
Thank you. I agree. Over the past few years, I’ve engaged in numerous discussions about the so-called "energy transition." The term transition suggests a shift from one energy system to another—typically from fossil fuels to renewables. Yet, in practice, what we’re witnessing looks more like energy addition than replacement.
Most energy transition plans assume we can decarbonise and keep growing—more electric cars, more solar panels, more data centres. But growth has physical limits. Renewables still require energy and finite materials. So, in economic terms, a true energy transition requires rethinking consumption, not merely diversifying supply.