“A transition to green energy would cost thousands of jobs. It’d be expensive. It just doesn’t make sense.” It’s a narrative that’s been pushed for decades; it’s the last stand of those still opposed to phasing out high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions industries like oil and coal. It’s the job of Kingsmill Bond, the New Energy Strategist for Carbon Tracker, to debunk the myths propagated by opponents the clean energy transition. Bond has compiled a list of the most prevalent energy myths and systematically busted them through data analysis and projections. These myths –and a summary of Carbon Tracker’s responses– are:
- Renewable energy sources are too small to impact the giant fossil fuel sector.
This is a fallacy for several reasons. First, markets are not moved by size, but rather by growth. “Investors react as growth slows, not when sales have already halved.” Once renewables get any foothold in the market, the fossil fuel sector will inevitably become smaller by proportion, and this is what will drive markets to take interest in renewables.
- Incumbents are right.
This is a common argument: if renewables were really the right way to go, then why are fossil fuel stakeholders the ones who have had and continue to have power? Their status supposedly legitimizes their viewpoint. Yet this argument leaves out the reality that more often than not, incumbent stakeholders are funded by fossil fuel companies; these donations give incumbents the upper hand in elections, helping them retain power.
- The intermittency of renewables will prevent the transition.
“But the sun doesn’t shine at night. Haven’t you ever thought about that?” Uninformed opponents of renewables like to claim that the intermittent nature of sources of clean energy (i.e, the sun doesn’t shine at night, the wind doesn’t always blow, etc.) makes renewables unreliable. The first counterpoint is that you don’t need 100% of energy to come from renewables in order to have an energy transition, anyway. Next, the tipping point for the electricity market will actually come when wind and solar provide just 15% of energy worldwide. Finally, the technology that can get us to the tipping point already exists. Many countries have already passed the tipping point, which indicates that electricity grids are indeed capable of getting them there, with the right management and forecasting.
- Renewables are too expensive.
The US levelized cost of energy (LCOE) clearly shows that wind and solar are far cheaper than coal and oil, and have been for some years now, based on the cost for one mega-watt hour (MWh) of electricity. What’s more, it’s often discussed that new renewables will be cheaper than new fossil fuels. What is left out is the fact that new renewables will be cheaper than existing fossil fuels. Yes, you could shut down a coal plant and open a solar plant today and make money on it. In India, solar and wind are currently produced at a cost of $20-30 per MWh; fossil fuel costs just can’t compete.
- The fossil fuel industry can help fight poverty in developing nations; renewables wouldn’t be able to provide for equity worldwide.
First off, developing countries haven’t even built the infrastructure for large-scale fossil fuel production yet, so they wouldn’t be losing anything by building renewables infrastructure. If you build fossil fuel infrastructure in emerging markets, you’d only be building a dying technology. Next, the climate change that fossil fuels have already caused affects the poor most heavily; climate change effects were responsible for the deaths of over 4 million people last year, mostly in poor countries. To force developing nations to rely on technology that would cause them further harm is ethically unjustifiable. Lastly, there is a globalized element of energy leapfrog: developing countries don’t want to get the tech we had 10 years ago. They want to jump straight to the most modern tech available. If the developed world is already transitioning to renewables, developing countries want to get on that train.
The walls are closing in on fossil fuel stakeholders. Their arguments are contradicted by scientific fact. It’s up to us as consumers, governments as policymakers, and markets as a driving force to cast aside these popular myths and invest in the renewable climate transition.
For more information on these energy transition myths, visit www.carbontracker.org .
Top Photo: www.studentenergy.org