Lecture description:
The debate around the energy transition is settled. Just as coal, steam power, and railways defined the 19th century, oil, steel, and mass production defined the 20th century, so too will renewables, electrification and artificial intelligence define the 21st century.
The mainstream media is fixated on the collapse of American climate policy, and rightly so. Focusing exclusively on the setbacks of the moment, however severe, does so at the expense of recognizing the larger economic and geopolitical shift underway. The question is no longer whether the world will transition from fossil fuels, but how fast and which nation will lead. Where there is crisis, there is opportunity. For all who care about the preservation of the natural world, now is the time to embrace a fundamental recalibration.
How we mitigate and adapt to the effects of anthropogenic warming, prevent further escalation, and even reverse our altered climate are all questions that can and will be answered in this century. Ironically, many of the solutions will depend on technologies such as artificial intelligence, which consume vast amounts of electricity themselves.
A future based on renewable energy is no longer just possible; it is inevitable. In this new era, those of us who care deeply about the natural world must shift our focus from “How do we prevent the worst?” to “How do we build the best?” The individuals, businesses and countries that rise to this challenge have the most to gain in the years to come.