"The core of the degrowth argument is the historical fact that economic growth and emissions are inexorably connected. Trends in the contemporary business community that fundamentally discount this relationship, like “green growth,” “green innovation,” and the coming “energy transition,” promote an illusory goal of unfettered growth and sustainability. To be realistic about the fundamental challenges of growth, we must adjust our cultural assumptions and reconfigure unsustainable business models."
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"Myth 3: Innovation will save us
It’s human nature to hope for an all-in-one solution to our economic and environmental problems. Green growth proponents believe that technological innovations like green hydrogen, carbon capture, and geoengineering will allow for growth while also reducing emissions and climatic effects. The reality is that, so far, such technologies overpromise and underdeliver.
According to a recent Nature editorial, green hydrogen and carbon capture still belong in the realm of “magical thinking.” While they could be part of the solution someday, they face serious challenges in terms of efficiency, cost, and actual environmental benefits.
Hydrogen is typically produced by exposing natural gas to steam, and so generates large amounts of CO2 as a byproduct. “Green hydrogen” is produced using renewable electricity, but the process is expensive and an inefficient use of renewable resources. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies are complex, expensive, and technically difficult to implement; many early schemes have been abandoned.
Electric vehicles are also seen as promising, but that’s also partly the result of selective accounting, even if we assume the electricity is from clean sources. The environmental impacts of mining raw materials for EV batteries, plus producing and disposing of them, are serious and mostly unaccounted for, and potentially offset the perceived gains in emissions reductions per mile traveled.
Geo-engineering (such as blocking sunlight to earth to slow global warming) is unproven and will almost certainly result in negative unintended consequences. In our desperation for green innovation that will save us, we’ve made the crucial error of selectively focusing on the positives without considering the negatives."
Great news! Awesome man! We need more Pioneer like him. And not only in US but also in Europe and China as Well.