The possibility of a low- or even zero-carbon energy system is certainly consistent with its long-term dynamics of continuous structural change. However, if historical experience shows that the global energy system is constantly evolving, it also highlights that past transitions have taken decades. The past provides no experience of system changes comparable in scale and time to those required by the net-zero transition towards the goal of climate neutrality.

We are on the eve of an extraordinary technological leap, where humans will reorganize themselves as beings and human structure will be optimized for software. The problem is how this process will be negotiated, shared, controlled, and monitored.

The transition, understood as an "ongoing transformation," is intricatel... More