Conclusions

Abstract

The (potential) shift from a fossil-based (and nuclear) energy regime to one based on renewable energy represents one of the biggest structural shifts ever in human history, irrespective of whether we think of it primarily as an industrial shift or as an energy transformation. We know that such shifts have happened in the past. The early Industrial Revolution was based on an energy system that was primarily renewable (i.e. waterpower) (although a renewable system that had undergone a quiet revolution over the past half a century). This gave way to industrial shifts based on coal in the early 19th century. The late 19th century saw the dawn of electricity, and while petroleum in different shapes and sizes was also starting to permeate the world economy, it was in the first few decades of the 20th century that oil became the new wonder fuel. The 20th century also saw the rise of nuclear power, although the nuclear revolution has remained a stillborn one.