school energy&environment

What does ‘energy transition’ mean?

The expression ‘energy transition’ refers to the move towards sustainable economies, through the use of renewable energy, the adoption of energy-saving techniques and sustainable development. Energy transition is a process that has accompanied the human race from the very beginning and has enabled the development and progress of human civilisation.

There are two fundamental elements that characterise an energy transition. The first is that it is a complex and time-consuming process, as it involves structural changes in the way energy is produced and used. The second concerns the impact of the energy transition on economic development, quality of life, social organisation and the environment. If we consider, for example, those countries that have not yet been decisively affected by the last energy transition, i.e. the one triggered by the Industrial Revolution, it is easy to see what the social benefits could be if modern energy sources were to become more widely available. Just think, for example, of the benefits electricity would bring to societies that still light their houses with candles or oil lamps, or the introduction of machinery into rural agriculture that relies mainly on human and animal power.

One or many transitions?

To be precise, we should speak of energy transition in the plural, because there are ‘multiple transitions’ that interact with one another and affect several components of the energy system. The components of an energy system that may be involved in an energy transition are:

• Primary sources of energy, such as fossil fuels;
• Machinery and technologies for energy transformation (e.g. turbines or electric motors);
• Energy vectors, such as electricity or hydrogen, which originate from the transformation of primary sources;
• The energy services required, such as heating, lighting or recent sustainable mobility.

What can such multiple transitions be triggered by? Again, there is no single process that leads to change, but many variables come into play. If changed, these can cause the energy system to evolve in one direction or another. The mechanisms driving an energy transition can be grouped into four broad macro-categories:

• Availability and competitiveness of new energy sources;
• Availability and competitiveness of new machinery and technologies for energy transformation;
• Adoption of new energy and environmental policies;
• A change in the type of energy services required by consumers.