Age Of Fire Is Over, The: A New Approach To The Energy Transition

by Vincent Petit

Overview

The heart of the contemporary argument on climate change and energy transition focuses on how energy supply should be decarbonized to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.This book proposes an alternative approach.The Age of Fire Is Over: A New Approach to the Energy Transition finds that energy transitions are not driven by supply-side driven transformations but rather by evolutions in demand patterns.Exploring the potential of recently emerged key technologies, The Age of Fire Is Over argues that the so-called Energy Transition has not yet started. In the future, key technologies will significantly transform demand and provide services at a fraction of today's cost or offer new services not yet imagined. To a large extent, energy paradigm shifts are driven by such evolutions, largely inevitable and often unanticipated, because they provide societies with greater benefits: lower costs, more jobs, and rapid adaptation.This book closes with key novel recommendations for government institutions to accelerate the energy transition, which — instead of replicating an approach from the past — should focus on these demand transformations to both advance civilization and mitigate climate change.With Foreword by Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Schneider Electric Chief Executive Officer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800610361
Publisher:	World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd
Publication date:	08/11/2021
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

About the Author ix

List of Figures xv

Part 1 Setting the Debate Right 1

Chapter 1 What Truly Drives Energy Transitions Is Not What We May Think 3

What Is Energy? 4

A Brief History of Energy Transitions 6

Long, Complex and Entangled, Demand-Driven Transitions 12

The Upcoming Energy Transition Will Not Be as Experts Currently Frame It 15

References 18

Chapter 2 The Current So-Called Energy Transition Has Not Yet Started 19

The Initial Kick 19

Not-So-New Energy Sources 21

Digital Everywhere - Even Where We Do Not Expect It 36

Working at an Atomic Scale 41

Nothing Has Happened Yet 43

References 47

Chapter 3 The Upcoming Energy Transition Will Be a Byproduct of Greater Changes at Stake 51

An Inefficient Economy 53

A Fragile Society 57

Sinking the Spaceship 63

How to Take It Forward? 68

References 73

Part 2 The "North Star" 77

Chapter 4 There Is a Stunning Potential to Do the Same Things…Much Better 79

Ultra-Efficient Buildings 82

Ultra-Efficient Industries 88

Ultra-Efficient Mobility 95

Ultra-Efficient Infrastructure 101

The Next Stage of Economic Development Will Be Human-Centricity 106

References 113

Chapter 5 Are We Too Big to Fail, or Is It the Opposite? 119

Resilient Resources 123

Resilient Trade 132

Resilient Society 137

The Next Stage of Our Social Construct Will Be Decentralization 144

References 151

Chapter 6 When We Reconcile with Our Original Beliefs 157

Three Revolutions Must Take Place 158

Agriculture Revolution 169

Industrial Revolution 171

Energy Revolution 174

The Central Role of Water 180

The Next Stage of Our Civilization Will Be About Reconnecting with Nature 182

References 189

Chapter 7 The Future Will Be Very Different from the Way We Currently Conceive It 193

The World in 30 Years 193

The Age of Fire Is Over 204

References 220

Part 3 Riding the Inevitable 223

Chapter 8 Let's Not Be Disappointed: It Will Mostly Look Like an Imperfect Patchwork of Changes 225

Different Innovations, Different Adoptions 225

Enabling Adoption: A Deeper Look 228

Five Key, Entangled Challenges, and What to Take Away from Them 239

References 250

Chapter 9 What Will Matter Now Is to Roll Up Our Sleeves 253

Accelerating Adoption: What It Will Take to Change 253

Putting a Timeline to Change 257

Priming the Pump of Change 263

References 267

Conclusion It's Only the Beginning…Good News! 269

References 276

Index 277