Misinformation, the biggest enemy of the (consumer) energy transition

European Union countries and the United States laid out two of the most ambitious plans to lead the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, with the European Green Deal and the Inflation Reduction Act, respectively.

Among a wide range of initiatives, both programs offer strong incentives to switch power generation to renewable energies, centralized and decentralized, and to the decarbonization of industries, the two main CO2 emitter sectors in 2022.

And in both sides of the Atlantic there is a strong pressure to bring back factories and production jobs to manufacture the building blocks of the energy transition, such as photovoltaic modules, batteries and next generation technologies as clean hydrogen.

While governments and companies are already executing their energy strategies in cruise mode, the great majority of consumers are still too far from entering the energy transition game.

One exception is lighting, that has been upgraded to electronic fluorescent first and later to LED (Light Emitting Diode), most likely due to the simplicity of replacement by the consumer itself without changes in the electrical architecture.

But that has not been the case of house heating and private transportation. And that might be due to misinformation!

On one side due to lack of knowledge regarding the available technologies and on the other by planted marketing campaigns to demote already viable solutions.

Take gas/ fuel boilers for house heating as an example. These boilers have a performance of 90%, meaning that they convert 1 unit of gas or fuel to 0.9 units of heat and emit CO2 to the atmosphere.

An electrified alternative is a heat pump with a performance coefficient of 400%, meaning that they convert 1 unit of electricity into 4 units of heat and do not emit CO2 directly. They have indirect CO2 emissions based on the energy matrix of the country. Although these equipment are quite mature in the market, they are not widely know by the consumer and are target of misinformation campaigns.

Meanwhile Germany's government carefully passed a law targeting the replacement of gas and oil boilers with cleaner heat pumps, just to receive critics that it would push millions into debt!

But as important as the upgrade of the heat generation equipment are the measures to improve efficiency, such as improved scheduling, and to reduce leaks, such as insulated windows.

Regarding electrical vehicles, a lot of people still think charging times are in the range of hours and that batteries degrade in a few years time. Transportation ranks number 3 in the CO2 emitting sectors in 2022, according to the IEA.

Adding to the confusion in the consumer mind, a US former Vice-President recently blamed a strike at the major US auto manufacturers on the push towards electric vehicles.

In a free and democratic world, information is key for everyone - governments, industrials and consumers - to walk their own decarbonization path.

And nowadays, most of the information is free!

References

European Green Deal - https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en

Inflation Reduction Act - https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/inflation-reduction-act-guidebook/

IEA CO2 Emissions in 2022 - https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2022

It’s Official: Stores Can No Longer Sell Most Incandescent Lights - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/climate/incandescent-light-bulb-ban-leds.html

Gas boiler lobby trying to delay UK’s heat pump plans, leak shows - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/20/gas-boiler-lobby-uk-heat-pump-plans-leak

Angst mounts over Germany’s green transition - https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/09/21/angst-mounts-over-germanys-green-transition

Pence echoes Trump, links UAW strikes to Biden EV push: ‘Good for Beijing, bad for Detroit’ - https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/19/pence-echoes-trump-on-uaw-strikes-to-biden-ev-push-china.html