The reason for the growth in humanity from 1 to 8 billion in 200 years is simple: fossil fuels are abundant, cheap, and efficient, so they provide reliable and dense energy at scale that can be manufactured into usable products by humanity. Renewables, on the other hand, cannot manufacture anything for humanity.  

Fossil fuels have helped to generate a quality-of-life revolution for a portion of humanity, and people in poverty who have missed out on this blessing rightfully want what the people in the wealthy and developed countries already have. 

Recently, Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright explained in his viral video, dishonest terminology surrounds the climate debate. One of these terms is “Energy Transition.” This term gives the impression that there exists a quick, easy, and scalable alternative to eliminate fossil fuels without serious impact on humanity. 

The current primary energy distribution by source, and forecasts by organizations like the EIA in their International Energy Outlook 2021, show that this “energy transition” is non-existent. As you can see in the EIA graph in the 51-page Liberty’s ESG report on Bettering Human Lives, no present quantity of primary energy generated by oil or gas is currently replaced by renewables. These sources of energy do different things. Fossil fuels are primarily used to manufacture products and fuels for humanity, while renewables manufacture nothing for humanity. 

Again, the primary reasons that renewables are not replacing fossil fuels is that oil and gas are more heavily used to manufacture products, fuels, and fertilizers for humanity, while renewables can only generate electricity from breezes and sunshine. The obvious observation is that renewables cannot manufacture anything for humanity! Comparing renewables to fossil fuels is like comparing apples and oranges. They are different! 

 A couple of headlines from the Liberty report that you don’t hear discussed by the elite or the media: 

• Global primary use of products and fuels is about to grow by almost 50% between 2020 – 2050 as impoverished people rise from poverty. At least 80 percent of humanity, or more than six billion people in this world are living on less than $10 a day.  
• Oil consumption, the source for those manufactured products and fuels, rises in all U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA) scenarios. Globally, liquid fuel consumption in the EIA forecast increases from an average of 99.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2022 to 100.9 million b/d in 2023. The higher consumption forecast is primarily driven by upward revisions to global economic growth. 
• Natural gas consumption, for heating and fertilizers, will continue to grow through 2050. 

Sadly, few in the media report or even acknowledge that there is almost no comparison between renewables and fossil fuels. To add insult to injury, those so-called renewables of wind and solar are 100 percent made from products manufactured from fossil fuels! 

This piece was adapted from an article that first appeared at Heartland.org and published here with permission.