With the dead-end nuclear energy scenario binned during the present reign of the Labor Government and rapid technological change facilitating renewable energy solutions, we must now come to grips with the principal non-technical barrier to a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

All energy must be transitioned, whether it’s currently used in the form of electricity, heat or transportation. A rapid transition is essential to reduce the probability of crossing climate tipping points into an irreversible climate state that’s an existential threat to human civilisation.

Thanks to decades of research and development, and public education by Saul Griffith and many others, most people understand that the cheapest and cleanest energy strategy is to electrify transportation and combustion heating while simultaneously converting all electricity generation to renewables. And we must not overlook the need to greatly increase the efficiency of energy use, especially in buildings.

We already have all the technologies needed to reduce Australia’s GHG emissions by three-quarters. In the energy sector, the principal technological gaps still needing more work are improvements in batteries for short- to medium-term electricity storage, and development of less expensive liquid and/or gaseous “green” fuels for aviation, shipping and long-term energy storage.

Renewables are chasing growing energy consumption

Unfortunately, government focus on the remaining technological challenges that must be solved has resulted in the neglect of the non-technical barriers. The principal non-technical barrier is the continuing growth in total final energy consumption (TFEC). Despite the rapid growth in renewable energy since year 2000, this barrier has led to the result that the percentage of global TFEC supplied by fossil fuels remained constant at 80% from 2000 to 2019 and subsequently has only decreased slightly. As energy consumption grows, renewable energy is

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