Peter Gallagher

“The his­tor­i­cal ver­dict is unas­sail­able: because of the req­ui­site tech­ni­cal and infra­struc­tural imper­a­tives and because of numer­ous (and often entirely unfore­seen) socio-economic adjust­ments, energy tran­si­tions in large economies and on a global scale are inher­ently pro­tracted affairs. That is why, bar­ring some extra­or­di­nary com­mit­ments and actions, none of the promises for greatly accel­er­ated energy tran­si­tions will be real­ized, and dur­ing the next decade none of the new energy sources and prime movers will make a major dif­fer­ence by cap­tur­ing 20 per­cent to 25 per­cent of its respec­tive mar­ket. A world with­out fos­sil fuel com­bus­tion is highly desir­able and, to be opti­mistic, our col­lec­tive deter­mi­na­tion, com­mit­ment, and per­sis­tence could accel­er­ate its arrival—but get­ting there will demand not only high cost but also con­sid­er­able patience: com­ing energy tran­si­tions will unfold across decades, not years.”  The Amer­i­can