Despite spending trillions of dollars, the “green transition” is failing

 According to Irina Slav, the global energy transition cost $4 trillion through 2023 and reduced fossil fuels by just 1%. As she put it, “we’ve paid trillions to still depend on hydrocarbons for most of our energy supply.” According to the Statistical Review of World Energy, in 2024, fossil fuels supplied 86.6% of world energy. Thirteen years prior, in 2011, the Statistical Review found that fossil fuels supplied 89.6% of the world’s energy. The difference is three percentage points. While that is slightly better than the 1% that Ms. Slav calculated using two different sources, the picture is still the same – the world is still relying on fossil fuels for almost 87% of its energy.

So, in 13 years, between 2012 and 2023, the global economy spent $4 trillion on moving away from fossil fuels, but still gets almost 87% of its energy from them. Slav also points out that spending on renewable and “clean” energy continued in 2024 to the tune of $2.4 trillion, covering investment in renewable energy, electric vehicles, energy efficiency and power grids. At the same time, coal supplied a record amount of energy in 2024. The world is learning very little from its exploits into mostly intermittent renewable energy (wind and solar power) that require expensive backup when the wind does not blow, and the sun does not shine, as politicians continue to force them upon consumers despite skyrocketing energy costs...<<<Read More>>>...