Through the Eye of the Needle.

Through the Eye of the Needle.

An Eco-Heterodox Perspective on the Renewable Energy Transition.

Megan K. Seibert 1,* and William E. Rees

[Dr. Rees has been a frequent contributor to CACOR.  Ed.]

Citation: Seibert, M.K.; Rees, W.E.  Through the Eye of a Needle: An Eco-Heterodox Perspective on the Renewable Energy Transition.  Energies 2021, 14, 4508. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14154508

Abstract:

We add to the emerging body of literature highlighting cracks in the foundation of the
mainstream energy transition narrative.  We offer a tripartite analysis that re-characterizes the
climate crisis within its broader context of ecological overshoot, highlights numerous collectively
fatal problems with so-called renewable energy technologies, and suggests alternative solutions
that entail a contraction of the human enterprise.  This analysis makes clear that the pat notion of
“affordable clean energy” views the world through a narrow keyhole that is blind to innumerable
economic, ecological, and social costs.  These undesirable “externalities” can no longer be ignored.
To achieve sustainability and salvage civilization, society must embark on a planned, cooperative
descent from an extreme state of overshoot in just a decade or two.  While it might be easier for
the proverbial camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for global society to succeed in this
endeavor, history is replete with stellar achievements that have arisen only from a dogged pursuit of
the seemingly impossible.

Keywords:

renewable energy; energy transition; overshoot; biocapacity; ecological limits; social
justice; sustainability

[Do read the article, which includes a plan to deal with our situation.  Ed.]

 

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