Welcome an electric world. Worry about the transition
As fuels, oil and electricity have meaningfully different characteristics
OIL shaped the 20th century. In war, the French leader Georges Clemenceau said, petroleum was “as vital as blood”. In peace the oil business dominated stockmarkets, bankrolled despots and propped up the economies of entire countries. But the 21st century will see oil’s influence wane. Cheap natural gas, renewable energy, electric vehicles and co-ordinated efforts to tackle global warming together mean that the power source of choice will be electricity.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Electric dreams”
From the March 17th 2018 edition
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