The Challenges of Giving Up Fossil Fuels
For centuries, the world has met its energy demand through the use of fossil fuels. As a result, we have been able to grow and advance our technology at an exponential rate. However, the exploitation of fossil fuels to power society has also resulted in some unforeseen challenges, namely rising carbon emissions and the ensuing impact on our climate (IPCC, 2021). This is a serious concern as even seemingly minor changes to our climate have the potential to have drastic impacts through rising sea levels, droughts, and farming (IPCC, 2021). Even if fossil fuels were not affecting our climate, fossil fuels are a finite resource and will eventually run out. If there is no alternative energy infrastructure in place, there will be a severe global struggle when they do run out. Fortunately, through renewable energy sources, we could avert such a global catastrophe while also ensuring a healthy future. However, given our current energy infrastructure is primarily fossil-fuel-based, and such a transition away from fossil fuels will take time, it is important to consider now what kind of new infrastructure we would need to convert to a renewable energy base.
The transition to renewable energy is a major challenge for all countries and involves two key components: infrastructure and political will. Most countries are currently fossil-fuel-based and thus the infrastructure is also fossil-fuel-based. In order to transition to a renewable energy base, important infrastructure will have to change. For instance, transportation is largely fossil-fuel-based and would have to find a way to utilize a renewable source to power itself to truly convert to renewable energy. Fortunately, a Stanford study on renewable energy found there were no technological barriers to converting the world to renewable energy (Bergeron, 2011). This means that we have the capability to change our infrastructure to support renewable energy. It is just a matter of implementing these changes. In the example of transportation, converting cars and trucks to use electricity produced from, say, wind energy could successfully eliminate our transportation system’s demand for fossil fuels. However, the challenge to overcome is the growing pains of changing our infrastructure. Initially, it will be likely that the new infrastructure may not behave exactly like the old infrastructure but with time any “pains” could certainly be resolved and be well worth their costs. This is why it is so important that the world begins to consider these renewable alternatives now.
The other significant challenge to overcome, and perhaps the larger of the two, is political will. Although the technology is feasible to support renewable energy infrastructure, completely changing the current energy infrastructure is a massive undertaking for any country. In order to change the energy infrastructure in such a large way, there has to be a social and legislative will to do it. Large projects such as the Apollo Program or the Interstate Highway Program were massive projects with both social and government backing supporting their completion. The same applies to converting the current energy infrastructure. There must be great and prolonged political support to get these challenging projects initiated and completed. Currently, support for renewable energy is growing as smaller renewable energy projects are being started each year. At the rate renewable energy infrastructure is growing, by 2025, there will be more renewable energy power plants than non-renewable plants in the U.S. (Bloomberg, 2019). Despite these hopeful facts, an overwhelming majority of our energy will still be produced by fossil fuels by then in the U.S. Furthermore, political support is divided on renewable energy and has yet to make initiatives to start such significant infrastructure changes. Globally, many countries are beginning to phase out the use of coal as the global energy generation from coal is declining (Bloomberg, 2019). However, many countries will still be producing a large majority of their energy from non-renewable sources. Overall, the will to convert to renewable energy is needed to change our infrastructure. Luckily, it appears that will is beginning to grow.
A concern skeptics of renewable energy may have is whether or not renewable energy sources can produce enough energy to meet the world’s energy demand. The short answer is yes. Through the combination of solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and possibly nuclear sources, there is more than enough renewable energy to meet demand (Bergeron, 2011). The key to meeting demand is creating a long-transmission system that can transfer energy to widely dispersed areas (Bergeron, 2011). This would allow the energy infrastructure to manage the high variability renewable sources have. For instance, it may not always be windy or sunny in one area but a few hundred miles away it could be. With a long-transmission system, energy being produced nearly anywhere could be transported to where it is needed. In essence, although not one single renewable source can produce enough energy to meet demand, a combination of multiple renewable energy sources and some supporting infrastructure can form a highly resilient system.
The conversion from fossil-fuel-based energy infrastructure to a renewable energy-based one is an important step the world is beginning to take. Our current production of energy has resource limits that will eventually be depleted. Therefore it is best to begin an energy transition now instead of later. The means of transitioning to renewable energy are available and feasible with the will to build the necessary infrastructure brewing. Globally, renewable energy initiatives are being taken, and although the growth is slow now, in the future it may occur much more rapidly. Overall, the technology and resources to support renewable energy are here, and with the will to transition to renewables growing, it is only a matter of time before the world completely transitions to renewable energy.
*Edited by Andy Colando
Works Cited
IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [MassonDelmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#FullReport
Doan, Lynn. Eckhouse, Brian. Cannon Christopher. Recht, Hannah. September 15th, 2019. Can Renewable Energy Power the World. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-can-renewable-energy-power-the-world/
Bergeron, Louis. January 26th, 2011. The world can be powered by renewable energy, using today’s technology, in 20-40 years, says Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson. Stanford Report. https://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/january/jacobson-world-energy-012611.html
