Energy transition to “new energy” is an expansive topic that is decades in the making and will be decades more before we really can transition. So far, the problem has been the idea that there will be a hand-off between current and new energy.
There has been limited investment or reinvestment in energy sources such as refineries. A lot more money and all the new money is going to new energy, solar, and all the things that we know about wind, hydrogen, electric vehicles, batteries, etc.
When discussing the energy infrastructure, we think about carbon-based, petroleum, oil, and gas. But hydrogen and clean energy require some metal to convert it to energy. We’re switching from relying on carbon to metal.
America has its own share of important metals, but we haven’t been mining them due to cost and pollution. I think that is an area we need to consider going forward if we transition from one type of energy to another.
Furthermore, I believe the UN or another international organization predicts that by 2058 we’ll have 10 billion people on earth. We have about seven billion now. We need to be equipped for this increased energy demand.
We must wait to abandon the existing infrastructure and not replace it overnight. We are still very dependent on current energy, and we need to invest in it as we transition.
The money needed to transition to “new energy” will be in the trillions. It’s going to take a lot of money, a lot of time, and a lot of agreement to get us there. Many places don’t want to invest in energy because it’s almost like rewarding old energy. But if we pump gas daily, we’re already rewarding our energy. Are we not continuing to use it to heat our homes until we all have enough solar panels to be independent?
I’m not making a political statement. We are not ready to abandon our current energy infrastructure completely. It’s wise to remain vigilant and prudent, but let’s wait to abandon it until we are sure we are ready. There are investment opportunities in both old and new energy.