A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR FOSSIL FUELS o the environmentally minded , are there any two more evil words in the English language than ‘ fossil fuels ’? They bear the brunt of the blame when we think about global warming . Still , the fact remains that they remain and they are not going anywhere . As one manager of a fossil fuel company put it : “ We need to be realistic . The energy transition is not going to happen overnight ; it is an evolution , not a revolution .”
The fallout from the war in Ukraine – Russia cutting off Europe ’ s gas supply , the rise of heating and electricity bills across the land , and America ’ s realignment and appeasement of Saudi Arabia as a result – has reminded us all of the persistence of fossil fuels as a vital energy source for the continued functioning of society and the economy . The question , then , becomes : how do we keep living with fossil fuels in as sustainable a manner as possible ? Welcome to the new era of energy realism .
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