Renewable Revolution
Today’s fossil energy system is incredibly inefficient: almost two-thirds of all primary energy is wasted in energy production, transportation, and use, before fossil fuel has done any work or produced any benefit. That means over $4.6 trillion per year, almost 5% of global GDP and 40% of what we spend on energy, goes up in smoke due to fossil inefficiency. Literally.
The winds are changing, though, as fossil technologies are undercut by more efficient alternatives. End-use efficiency is driving out fossil fuels, reinforced by three new tailwinds that upend the energy landscape: renewable electricity, localization, and electrification. These drivers will allow us to drastically cut down on energy waste and phase out fossil fuels.
Today’s energy system is incredibly inefficient. We waste almost 400 exajoule (EJ) of all energy going into our energy system (two-thirds of total), worth over $4.5 trillion, or almost 5% of global GDP — all before any value is created with energy.
The main culprit is the widespread use of fossil fuels. The majority of energy losses are driven by the inherent inefficiencies of producing and delivering fossil fuels (177 EJ per year), transportation (19 EJ per year), and use (183 EJ per year).
