Redefining Energy1 Sep 2025

193. The Seven Deadly Sins of the Energy Transition

Three wise men met and discussed the Seven Sins of The Energy Transition. Laurent, Gerard and Michael dissect seven sectors that have captured attention, investments and public money and are at best dead ends, at worst disasters waiting to happen.

Greed — “Subsidy Mining in a Lab Coat” (Carbon Capture & Direct Air Capture)
A capital-intensive detour that soaks up public money while delivering trivial abatement at extreme cost, great PR for incumbents, weak climate math.
Gluttony — “Three Kilowatt-Hours to Move One” (Hydrogen-for-Energy)
An energy-wasting appetite: make H₂ with clean power, then throw most of that power away moving, compressing, liquefying, and reconverting it—useful only in narrow industrial niches.
Sloth — “Always ‘On Time’ by 2040” (Small Modular Reactors)
Perma-prototype promises that stay years late and dollars short while wind, solar, and storage deploy at scale now.
Pride — “We Will Bottle the Sun” (Fusion Salvationism)
Technological hubris as strategy: a captivating physics quest, but not a climate plan for the 2030s. Invest in science, don’t budget on miracles.
Lust — “Drop-In Fantasies for Every Engine” (Biofuels-Everywhere)
The seductive promise of pouring yesterday’s fuels into tomorrow’s problems; keep them for hard-to-electrify edges, not as a universal fix.
Wrath — “Culture War at Sea” (America’s Offshore-Wind Own-Goals)
Ideological backlash, litigation, and policy whiplash torch viable projects and local supply chains while the rest of the world builds.
Envy — “Green Halo by Checkbox” (ESG Box-Ticking)
Chasing ratings and labels instead of real-world decarbonization and cash-flow-relevant risk; better to separate E, S, and G and measure outcomes

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