Is there an energy transition?

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Apr 30, 2024

Debate on terminology around the energy transition, progress in shifting to cleaner energy sources, global mandates to limit greenhouse gases, dominance of fossil fuels despite actions taken, questioning if we are truly transitioning away from fossil fuels or just adding new energy sources.

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INSIGHT

Debating the Energy Transition

The term "energy transition" is debated due to the persistent dominance of fossil fuels.
The slow pace of change raises questions about whether it constitutes a true transition or just an addition of new energy sources.

INSIGHT

Overlooking Progress

Climate doom and gloom overlooks real progress like falling renewable costs and climate mandates.
56 countries, responsible for over half of global emissions, have passed direct climate mandates.

INSIGHT

Plastics Treaty Threatens Oil Industry

A UN treaty aims to cap and reduce plastics production, threatening the oil industry's growth plans.
This is significant because the industry relies on increasing plastics demand.

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Fossil fuels still dominate the world’s energy supplies. Do we need different terminology to talk about what’s happening?

We talk about “the energy transition” all the time. But is that language misleading? 20 years ago fossil fuels were 85% of the world’s energy, today they’re just a few percentage points less. If there is a transition to low-carbon energy, it is happening only slowly, and it needs to move much faster to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. The world has made huge strides in both the cost and deployment of renewable energy, but can we really say that we are in a transition away from fossil fuels?

Host Ed Crooks is joined by Melissa Lott, a professor at Columbia University’s Climate School, and Amy Myers Jaffe, director of NYU’s Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab, to discuss the way the language we use shapes our ideas about energy policy. Amy quotes her Tufts University colleague (and previous guest on the show) Kelly Sims Gallagher: “climate doom and gloom really disregards the progress that's been made”. That progress includes 56 countries, between them responsible for over half of global emissions, passing direct climate mandates to limit greenhouse gases.

But despite all that action, we still get the great majority of our energy from fossil fuels. The gang debate whether the current global shift towards low-carbon energy represents a real "transition", or maybe even a “transformation”. Or is it merely an addition of new energy sources on top of the existing ones such as oil and gas.

Ed, Amy and Melissa debate the feasibility of achieving net zero by 2050, considering the political and economic hurdles ahead. Innovations including carbon pricing, electrification, and advances in renewable energy technologies will play prominent roles in shifting us towards cleaner energy systems. Will they be enough?

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