Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
On 18 June 2024, Theo Wolters spoke at Clintel's anniversary conference about a reality check regarding the energy transition. This is the recording of his lecture.
The presentation substantiated that the envisaged energy transition to fossil-free by 2050 is completely unrealistic: the period is far too short, and the system costs of solar and wind are prohibitive. This is true worldwide anyway, but even already for the rich Netherlands. All independent energy experts agree on this, although politicians and the media in The Hague just present zero in 2050 as the indisputable reality.
A transition that makes people poorer every year can never succeed either.
Therefore, we need to go back to pure energy policy: ensuring affordable, clean and reliable energy, for everyone in the world, and especially the poorer countries. To do so, we must especially develop cheaper sources than the current ones, and that will almost certainly end up being a new form of nuclear power.
Theo Wolters concludes by claiming that we will eventually push fossil energy far faster by focusing on developing cheaper forms of energy, which will cause an automatic transition, than by continuing to try to force an unaffordable and unfeasible transition on the population, based on solar and wind.
Ir Theo Wolters is chairman of Stichting Milieu, Wetenschap & Beleid
https://mwenb.nl
theowolters@mwenb.nl
Robbert Clignett: Camera en Montage
Sylvester van Nieuwenhuijzen: Camera
On 18 June 2024, Theo Wolters spoke at Clintel's anniversary conference about a reality check regarding the energy transition. This is the recording of his lecture.
The presentation substantiated that the envisaged energy transition to fossil-free by 2050 is completely unrealistic: the period is far too short, and the system costs of solar and wind are prohibitive. This is true worldwide anyway, but even already for the rich Netherlands. All independent energy experts agree on this, although politicians and the media in The Hague just present zero in 2050 as the indisputable reality.
A transition that makes people poorer every year can never succeed either.
Therefore, we need to go back to pure energy policy: ensuring affordable, clean and reliable energy, for everyone in the world, and especially the poorer countries. To do so, we must especially develop cheaper sources than the current ones, and that will almost certainly end up being a new form of nuclear power.
Theo Wolters concludes by claiming that we will eventually push fossil energy far faster by focusing on developing cheaper forms of energy, which will cause an automatic transition, than by continuing to try to force an unaffordable and unfeasible transition on the population, based on solar and wind.
Ir Theo Wolters is chairman of Stichting Milieu, Wetenschap & Beleid
https://mwenb.nl
theowolters@mwenb.nl
Robbert Clignett: Camera en Montage
Sylvester van Nieuwenhuijzen: Camera
