Colin Kick | US Environmental Policy Student
The world is at a turning point—climate change, driven by fossil fuel emissions, and the looming depletion of these non-renewable resources are pushing humanity toward a profound shift: the energy transition. The energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables is essential to combat climate change and resource depletion, demonstrating through its drivers, challenges, and opportunities that coordinated global action—spanning policy, technology, and societal shifts—can achieve a sustainable, more equitable energy future.
First of all, there are several key drivers behind the need to accelerate our transition to clean sources of energy. Fossil fuels have driven progress for centuries, but their dominance is fading as the world faces the need to shift to cleaner energy. In 2023, global CO2 emissions from energy use reached a record 37.4 billion tons, making these fuels one of the chief culprits behind the rise in global temperatures since preindustrial times.[1] The fallout—floods, heatwaves, shrinking ice caps, etc.—is already disrupting lives. The IEA warns that without drastic change, we’re on track for up to a 2.4°C increase by 2100, far above the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement.[2]
The economics of the situation adds urgency: fossil fuel prices swing wildly—take the 2022 energy crisis, when Russia’s war in Ukraine sent European gas prices soaring.[3] Renewables, by contrast, rely on free inputs: sunlight and wind don’t come with a geopolitical price tag. Solar and wind are now the cheapest new electricity sources in most countries, a trend reshaping energy markets.[4] That is to say, widespread and viable renewable energy is no longer a futuristic dream—it’s here. Back in 2022, it generated 30% of the world’s electricity, and it’s positioned well to keep on rising.[5] This surge owes much to the aforementioned cost declines, with solar and wind power having fared particularly well, and all forms of renewable energy having benefited to some degree due to better tech and scale.[6] Real-world examples of clean energy’s growing popularity abound: in the U.S., Texas—once an oil stronghold—now leads in wind power, producing enough to power millions of homes.[7] Based on current trends, renewables are projected to supply more than half of global power within the next couple of decades. This isn’t wishful thinking; it’s a shift backed by data and investment.[8]
New technologies are fueling the transition. Solar and wind are intermittent—cloudy and calm days don’t generate power—but new battery tech is working to solve this issue. Battery costs have dropped tremendously, making storage more viable,[9] while new systems like the Tesla Megapack store excess renewable energy for use when demand spikes, helping to steady grids. Electrification is another essential pillar of the transition: electric vehicles (EVs) are booming, with almost 14 million sold globally in 2023, and this trend is likely only to grow.[10] EVs help to slash transport emissions, which make up around a fifth of the global total.[11] When electrification is paired with renewable (wind, solar, hydro) or at least clean (e.g., nuclear) sources of energy, it puts a sustainable and scalable model in place that will benefit everyone in the long run. Hard-to-decarbonize sectors like steel and shipping are benefiting from new technologies aimed at addressing these challenges, such as green hydrogen, which is renewably produced. New hydrogen technologies and other similar alternatives are a game-changer, with projects ramping up worldwide. These innovations prove the transition isn’t just possible, it’s also practical—not to mention necessary.
That said, there are many challenges as well. Scaling renewables demands significant land and space for infrastructure like solar panels and wind turbines. For instance, large solar farms need open, sunny areas, while wind farms demand expansive sites with steady winds, often in rural or coastal regions. A net-zero U.S. by 2050 will thus require a huge amount of land for these wind and solar farms,[12] which stands to spark conflicts with farming and wildlife—think of the debates over offshore wind farms disrupting fishing grounds. Supply chains pose another hurdle: batteries and turbines need rare metals like lithium and cobalt. When mining and production are concentrated in relatively few countries (e.g., China, Chile), there is a greater risk of shortages or price spikes.[13] Mining also harms ecosystems, which creates a sort of paradox for so-called “green” tech. Lastly, money is maybe the biggest barrier. Net-zero by 2050 will require trillions being poured into clean energy each year.[14] Such a price tag is a strong deterrent for many, even considering the bigger picture and economic superiority of renewables down the road. This is particularly true for developing nations, which face the toughest climb in the first place; without global support, the transition could end up widening inequality.
Despite these challenges, though, the global trend continues to move in the right direction, with renewables expanding rapidly, costs declining, and investments in clean technologies growing steadily.[15] Innovation is at the forefront of this trend, with even simple adjustments in our practices yielding positive results: recycling batteries serves to help cut raw material needs—recycled lithium-ion batteries perform as well as new; offshore wind assists with sidestepping land issues, while still powering millions; the list goes on, with more and more solutions emerging from the urgency of the climate crisis.[16] Jobs, contrary to some political rhetoric, are actually a distinct bright spot: fossil fuel employment is fading—US coal, oil, and gas jobs have dropped significantly in the past decade, with renewables and other alternative forms of energy growing in their place.[17] It is also worth noting that training programs can shift workers from old to new energy, which helps smooth the transition and assuage fears of job loss and long-term unemployment.
In the end, the energy transition is inevitable: this is, after all, a matter of survival. Only its pace is up to us. Governments can accelerate it with policy tools, such as carbon pricing, incentivizing individuals and corporations to lower emissions.[18] Businesses and consumers are both crucial to the energy transition—corporate net-zero or carbon-free goals help to drive large-scale demand for clean energy, while consumers’ choices, like adopting EVs or energy-efficient appliances, serve to collectively amplify the shift. Critics may say renewables can’t fully replace fossil fuels, pointing to their variability and existing infrastructure, but energy systems evolve—coal overtook wood, oil beat coal, and renewables are next. Falling costs, improving tech, and soaring adoption make this transition inevitable, but coordinated global action—via enhanced policy tools like carbon pricing, corporate net-zero commitments, and consumer choices such as EVs—must accelerate it to combat climate change and resource depletion quickly.
[1] IEA (2024), CO2 Emissions in 2023, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2023, Licence: CC BY 4.0
[2] IEA (2023), World Energy Outlook 2023, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2023, Licence: CC BY 4.0 (report); CC BY NC SA 4.0 (Annex A)
[3] Jakob Feveile Adolfsen, Friderike Kuik, Eliza Lis, and Tobias Schuler, “The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Euro Area Energy Markets,” Economic Bulletin, no. 4 (2022), European Central Bank, accessed April 17, 2025, https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/economic-bulletin/focus/2022/html/ecb.ebbox202204_01~68ef3c3dc6.en.html.
[4] IEA (2024), Renewables 2023, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2023, Licence: CC BY 4.0
[5] IEA, Renewables 2023
[6] IEA, Renewables 2023
[7] U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Texas – State Profile and Energy Estimates,” July 18, 2024. https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=TX.
[8] IEA, World Energy Outlook 2023
[9] IEA (2024), Energy Technology Perspectives 2024, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-technology-perspectives-2024, Licence: CC BY 4.0
[10] IEA (2024), Global EV Outlook 2024, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2024, Licence: CC BY 4.0
[11] IEA, CO2 Emissions in 2023
[12] IEA (2021), Net Zero by 2050, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050, Licence: CC BY 4.0
[13] IEA, Net Zero by 2050
[14] IEA, Net Zero by 2050
[15] IEA (2024), Energy Technology Perspectives 2024
[16] IEA (2024), Energy Technology Perspectives 2024
[17] Elliott, Rebecca F. “Why Oil Industry Jobs Are Down, Even with Production Up.” The New York Times, January 14, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/business/energy-environment/oil-gas-jobs.html.
[18] IEA, World Energy Outlook 2023