Humankind’s use of energy – from power generation through to final consumption – has had negative side effects on the global climate. The primary concern is global warming, caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which has had knock-on negative impacts such as rising sea levels and erratic weather patterns. These negative impacts on the planet are seen to be unsustainable, and so a revolution in how we generate and consume energy is required to slow and reverse the process of climate change.
The energy transition is more than just a shift to renewable sources of energy. It goes like this:
The burning of fossil fuels – such as coal, oil, and natural gas – to generate power (electricity) directly releases harmful substances into the atmosphere
SO, generating electricity by cleaner, renewable means – such as through wind, solar, nuclear, or hydro – and making efficiency gains, are the first elements in the energy transition
BUT the ‘power’ generated by power stations meets only a portion of the demand for energy. Consumers and businesses demand fossil fuels directly to generate power for other uses, such as operating vehicles and machinery or in heavy industry
SO, another part of the energy transition is electrification of these uses of energy. Then these sources of demand for energy can be met directly by the electricity generated by power stations
BUT some demands for energy are difficult to electrify, or electricity just won’t work for them. These are known as ‘hard-to-abate’ uses, and they include heavy transport, heavy industry, and some building uses. For these, we must look to alternative sources of energy, preferably clean.
SO, advancements must be made in developing hydrogen, synthetics, and bioenergy as alternative fuel sources
BUT, usage of fossil fuels is unlikely to disappear entirely, and given the expected huge increase in total global demand for energy over the coming decades, technologies that are not yet commercially available may still be required to meet climate goals
SO, investment in energy technology infrastructure will make up for the remaining negative climate effects of the world’s use of energy. These technologies include carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), and direct air capture (DAC).
The energy transition is more than just a shift to renewable energy. We’ll be posting on this topic regularly in our ‘sustainability series’.
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