The need to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require a complete overhaul of how we meet our basic needs, from the cars we drive to the homes we live in to the way our energy is created. To achieve an energy transition, a lot of focus has been placed on renewable technologies like wind and solar power. These alternatives to fossil fuels can produce electricity without any direct carbon emissions — however, they also suffer from the problem of being intermittent. They only produce energy when the sun shines or the wind blows.
Coal and gas, on the other hand, produce large amounts of carbon emissions, but work exactly when you need them to. Is there still a place, then, for fossil fuels in a future energy system?
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