ELECTRICITY

A rusty engine standing forlon on a little flloating meadow representing the demise of fossil fuel power

You see, most renewable sources generate electricity. So we needed to learn how to use it—everywhere.

With the risk of stating the obvious, except for biomass—like wood—we don’t burn anything to generate renewable energy.

That’s the point: you don’t lose anything and still get what you want.

A win-win, right? Yes, but also such a challenge for a world economy built on burning stuff.

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You might be thinking: weren't we already using a lot of electricity in the past? For the lights, TVs, and an increasing number of electric cars.

Well, back in 2023, only 23% of Europe’s energy came from electricity, and over a third of that electricity came from fossil fuels.

Electricity paved the way for the energy transition because it could be generated sustainably and used efficiently.

In order to harness its potential, it was time to electrify everything!

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Think about your phone. You’ve never had to fill its little gas tank, right?

It’s powered by electricity. And if that electricity is clean, its use emits next to no CO2.

Not every machine was "born electric”. Cars had been running on fossil fuels for as long as they existed.

Until we figured out how to make affordable batteries strong enough to power electric motors that left traditional engines in the dust.

Data visualisation showing two toy cars showing how electric cars drive farther than petrol cars using the same energy

Using the same energy, an e-vehicle (in green) drives 4.5 times farther than a petrol vehicle (in blue) because of its higher efficiency.

It just made sense.

For every euro of petrol you put in the tank, 80 cents were spent on waste heat and noise. And that was after more than a century of perfecting this technology!

E-vehicles boast over 90% efficiency: almost all the energy you put in is used to propel the car forward.

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Decades ago, electric cars and their charging stations were few and far between.

Nowadays, this applies to petrol stations. They still exist—especially to service hybrid lorries—but every year I see less of them.

Office buildings that used to be heated with gas now rely on electric heating systems and heat pumps.

Public transport, construction equipment, or agricultural machinery? Same story.

Electrification means that we need less energy to do the same work.

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So, what happened to the big, polluting industries? Truth be told, some are lagging behind.

Industries like steel and cement manufacturing require extreme temperatures traditionally reached by burning fossil fuels.

Having always depended on fossil fuels, their heavy-duty machinery needed to be reinvented from scratch.

And while they made impressive strides, no magic solution has taken away these issues. You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?

But we made it to net zero regardless. And as these complicated industries electrify further, their avoided emissions will push us closer to becoming net negative.

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