Good summary on the topic. Concise, but technical enough to give it gravitas. And it starts with a great ELI5:
Daniel Yergin argues this isn’t a transition but an energy addition—renewables are stacking on top of still-growing fossil fuel use. Net zero isn’t happening.
While theoretically industry demands can eventually be met with a mostly electrified grid, it is a very long way out. The article only touched on it but in many places all of the transmission lines would need to be upgraded. And then each industry would need revamped. Furnaces are being electrified, but not overnight. These are long-term, capital-intensive processes.
You also can’t simply add solar panels to a grid (even after upgrading the lines), you have to have backup ready to keep the grid parameters nominal - which is usually LNG because it is ideal for turning on and off quickly. The hope is that batteries can take over but that’s not going to happen any time soon. There’s too many gaps, too many expenses, and not enough global cooperation. So we use LNG which gives us another excuse to extract and even subsidize more oil. I guess it’s better than coal or more oil, but not by much.
The only thing that is going to make a difference here is curbing demand. Obviously that is easier said than done, but it’s the unfortunate truth imo.
Good summary on the topic. Concise, but technical enough to give it gravitas. And it starts with a great ELI5:
While theoretically industry demands can eventually be met with a mostly electrified grid, it is a very long way out. The article only touched on it but in many places all of the transmission lines would need to be upgraded. And then each industry would need revamped. Furnaces are being electrified, but not overnight. These are long-term, capital-intensive processes.
You also can’t simply add solar panels to a grid (even after upgrading the lines), you have to have backup ready to keep the grid parameters nominal - which is usually LNG because it is ideal for turning on and off quickly. The hope is that batteries can take over but that’s not going to happen any time soon. There’s too many gaps, too many expenses, and not enough global cooperation. So we use LNG which gives us another excuse to extract and even subsidize more oil. I guess it’s better than coal or more oil, but not by much.
The only thing that is going to make a difference here is curbing demand. Obviously that is easier said than done, but it’s the unfortunate truth imo.