A realistic ‘energy transition’ is to get better at using less of it
We must develop a realistic plan for energy descent, rather than clinging to naive fantasies of endless consumer abundance powered by alternatives to fossil fuels.
clean energy transition
Welcome to the New Green Colonialism
It’s time to flip the game upside down and end that very green colonialism by requiring a southernization of the north — forcing the latter to reduce its consumption of energy and other resources to meet that of the Global South.
Energy transition in an oil city: is a just transition possible? Part 2
Taking a place-based approach that works with and understands local culture while catering to national priorities will not be an easy task, but it is necessary if we are serious about our efforts to work towards a just transition for everyone.
On Technology and Degrowth
Degrowth scholarship embraces technological change and efficiency improvements, to the extent (crucially) that these are empirically feasible, ecologically coherent, and socially just.
Depoliticize to Decarbonize
Too often in an effort to save Mother Nature, we forget about human nature. Solving problems with rolling out clean renewable energy is less a matter of the physical sciences than the social sciences—overcoming users’ habits and project resistance at the local level.
Climate change and energy cities – is a just transition possible? Part 1
Just transition presents some specific challenges in places historically dependent on fossil fuel production.
Red States and the Inflation Reduction Act: Environmental Hypocrisy or Just Good Politics?
The budget battle brewing in Congress could see the US become a dead-beat debtor if the warring factions can’t come to some arrangement on raising the nation’s debt ceiling.
A Stranded Society: Fossil Fuel Infrastructure in a Post-Carbon World
We need to decarbonize not just to save the world, but to save our ability to live within it.
Climate Action Epistemology Part 4: Technological Potential in the IPCC Mitigation Report
There is good reason to expect that the transition process will be more difficult than we tend to hear about, and that technological solutions, while essential, aren’t enough to address the climate crisis.
America’s Fossil Fuel Economy is Heading for Collapse – It Signals the End of the Oil Age
US oil production is about to peak, but the world is unprepared for the tremendous economic and political consequences. The only path through is energy and economic transformation.
How the energy crisis is boosting heat pumps in Europe
For the first time in 2022, heat pump sales in Europe reached 3m, up 0.8m (38%) from a year earlier and doubling since 2019. Sales doubled in a single year in Poland, Czech Republic and Belgium.
How to accelerate the transition
The consultancy SystemIQ, working with University of Exeter, Simon Sharpe and the Bezos Earth Fund, has produced a report that looks at the positive tipping points that could accelerate the transition to a post-carbon future.
