The Essential Energy Transition - Energy and Climate: How to Achieve a Successful Energy Transition - page 35

4
The Essential EnergyTransition
The need for change
In view of the threats poised over our economy and our planet, due to
excessive consumption of fossil fuels, a transition to a newenergy system is
essential.
Such transitions have already taken place in the past, when coal
replaced wind and waterpower, and then when oil took over from coal
with the advent of the automotive and aviation era.
Now, however, we are faced with a quite different situation. The
previous transitions were the result of technological progress, which
progressively modified the economic system, without this transformation
having been anticipated.
In contrast, the energy transitionwe are now facing is imposed upon us,
but there are no obvious substitution options.
Its implementation is made difficult, however, due to the very high level
of worldwide energy demand and the magnitude of the threats to the
environment. For a number of economic and technical reasons which will
be explained below, the fossil energies cannot be replaced rapidly and
massively by alternative energies (renewable, nuclear).
Although the energy transition promises to be long and difficult, it must
be undertaken without delay. Solutions specifically adapted to this tran-
sition period will have to be proposed.