Decarbonization- a battle of epic proportions

Should we allow energy to continue in its current system, reliant on fossil fuels, old, inadequate energy systems, and infrastructure solutions? Or do we finally recognize, power solutions need to change radically into sources of energy, based more on renewables, that provide cleaner, more naturally sustaining environments based on wind, the sun, and natural conversion of water or the increased use of biomass?

The world is in a race to decarbonize, to save this planet. Some share this belief; others are less than convinced. If we let the world move along the argument goes, it will become unsustainable, also unlivable for us humans in our present ways, unsuitable for enabling us to thrive and prosper. All we know will begin to unravel. Now those are not great ringing endorsements to the "carry on as we are". There is a growing compelling need to make some radical changes. We need to reduce the greenhouse gases and especially all the human-made carbon dioxide and get as quickly as possible to a net-zero point of harmful emissions.

Radical in design and breakthrough in solutions

To get there, we must undertake the most radical, far-reaching redesigns of our energy systems. We must rapidly move away from fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil) and tap into renewables of harnessing the wind, the sun, and natural conversion of water or the increased use of biomass to produce our electricity and provide the energy to drive our industries, agriculture and our transport sectors.

The move towards renewables means a redesign of our energy source and supply systems to combine these different sources of energy; we have the chance to reverse the current crisis our world is facing; of rapid climate warming and significant degradation of the environment.

We have to get this right- it is epic.

Of course, there is today a very popular “soundbite” of “we want to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.” Yet to achieve this does mean we face one of the biggest challenges we will face up to in this century, or perhaps when you to look back, within any century. This energy transition is as big as it can get. The prize is a return to a planet we can live upon in healthy ways, not one of “affordable energy.”

To get there, we will need to become far more reliant on collaboration and cooperation. We only have one planet, and we all must work towards our part to play. The concept of Ecosystems can evolve naturally, given time, but we presently do not have the luxury of allowing one to develop we much (attempt) to manage this energy transition ecosystem and accelerate its evolution in multiple ways of innovative opportunity and purposeful design.

What we need as our focal point is that the entrenched fossil reliant energy system must migrate towards the clean energy future we urgently require, to allow for our planet to return to a balanced one. We have forty to fifty years to achieve this; otherwise, we begin to go over many "tipping points" that cannot be reversed.

For me, any chance to pull our planet back from its present path towards a "choking death" of greenhouse emissions needs to be having an unstoppable momentum in this present decade

Striving to get our planet into a balance and harmony

If we as humans want to lead healthy lives, we do need this balance this with what this earth offers, to live alongside other creatures, plants, and in what nature provides, and value this completely different. It is not simply trying to extract or be the ultimate judge over parts of the ultimate ecosystem; we need to stop imposing just our needs.

Managing the energy transition is vital to that as it may be essential to our world. Still, its present byproduct is polluting or poisoning our planet’s environment with significant carbon emissions.

We need to provide a more sustainable future for all living things on this one planet of ours in the use of clean energy that does not burden or have any impact on our “living” system that we share, not own.

If we are going to complete the energy transition, the future energy systems must be all about “deep decarbonization” solutions, it must be based on clean, renewable energy and this must come from new solutions and technological innovation breakthroughs but at a pace of unprecedented speed and scale. We have no time to lose; it is a battle of changing our energy systems worldwide. It is, really of epic proportions.