Four Unexplained Things About Energy Transition

For all the talk about energy transition, many aspects about transition remain unexplained. I’m in the midst of a home renovation. The renovation should allow the house last another 20-30 years with minimal upkeep, and may well be our final home as we embrace the ideal to age-in-place. The renovations are extensive—walls are being opened up for the first time in 30 years, the flooring is being upgraded, and we’ve had to move out for the four months it will take to carry out. What’s remarkable is that it falls entirely to me to take the initiative on all new energy ideas for the house. I would have thought that the instant I surface at the local planning office to secure a building permit, someone with knowledge about the national agenda for energy transition would be chasing me to encourage me to do the right thing, and embrace these (and likely other) innovations. Instead, it’s been crickets. In the meantime, I’m curious how many other aspects of modern life are going to cope with the transition. Here are four that puzzle me about how transition will work.