Myth: The same amount of energy is needed for a combustion civilization as an electrified civilization

False. If we capture energy from the sun and wind, and use it directly in the form of electricity in our vehicles, appliances and devices, much of the mechanical inefficiency of pumping, refining, transporting and burning fossil fuels is avoided.

It takes a substantial amount of energy to pump oil or natural gas out of the ground, refine it into fuels, and get those fuels to the vehicles or power stations via pipelines and tanker trucks where they will finally be utilized. Then, when the fuels are burned in combustion engines in vehicles and power stations, roughly two-thirds of the energy contained in the fuel itself is lost to waste heat, with only about one-third being converted into useful motion. All told, combustion engines are at best around 25% efficient from end to end.

If instead we capture energy from the sun and wind, and use it directly in the form of electricity in our vehicles, appliances and other devices, much of the mechanical inefficiency of pumping, refining, transporting and burning fossil fuels in combustion engines is avoided. The net result is that a fully electrified civilization needs only about half of the primary energy of a fossil fuel-based civilization to deliver the same services.

The Sankey diagram of energy consumption, produced by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, below, shows that in energy use across the U.S. economy, 65.4% is “rejected” or lost to the environment as waste, while only 31.8% is actually utilized.

Explore the evidence...

• A 100% solar, wind and battery system (SWB) is not like the old system. It will create superabundant, near-zero marginal cost. A clean energy system represents a phase change disruption. This new system is not a one-for-one disruption but will replace the old system with an entirely new one. SWB is not a cleaner conventional energy system, just like the car was not a faster horse. Watch RethinkX co-founder Tony Seba describe this in more detail our Youtube series 'The Great Transformation'.
• The Clean Energy U-Curve, shows how the more solar and wind capacity we build, the fewer batteries we need.
  • Watch RethinkX co-founder Tony Seba describe this phenomena in our Youtube Series 'The Great Transformation'.
  • Learn more about the Clean Energy U-Curve by reading p20 of our Rethinking Energy report.
• The superabundance of near-zero marginal cost electricity from clean sources will have a transformative impact on our societies. The shift from high marginal cost to near-zero marginal cost energy will parallel what we have already witnessed with the shift from expensive to nearly costless information, with equally profound implications for affected industries, the economy and society at large. We are heading for superabundance, not austerity! Read more about the key implications of the energy transformation on p51-54 of our Rethinking Energy report.
• Conventional clean energy scenarios make the common error of misunderstanding that disruptive new technologies tend to replace the old system with a new system that has dramatically different architecture, boundaries and capabilities. Read p20-22 of our Rethinking Energy report for a deep dive into the nature and potential of Clean Energy SWB Superpower.

Witness the transformation

A new, clean energy future run by 100% SWB is inevitable, and will transform our energy system entirely...

Solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power and lithium-ion batteries do not operate by the traditional rules of extractive and polluting resources that have governed humanity’s relationship with energy for over a century.

Learn more about the future of the energy sector.

Published on: 12/07/23