Energetic Transition. Challenges and Outlooks

Energy is an essential factor in economic and social development. Without energy, a city loses its means of communication, signalling, transport and heating. The progress made over the course of the XX ^{of the} century have been achieved thanks to the use of an abundant, flexible and relatively inexpensive form of energy: oil.

However, an energy transition is necessary. On the one hand, fossil fuel resources, and in particular hydrocarbons, are finite, posing a threat to future supplies, even if this threat has receded somewhat due to the production of unconventional hydrocarbons, and in particular bedrock hydrocarbons ("shale gas", as it is often referred to, is in fact bedrock gas. Bedrock hydrocarbons are produced by hydraulic fracturing). The threat of peak oil is no longer talked about, and some experts even recommend leaving a significant proportion of fossil fuel reserves in the ground to prevent them from being burnt up and contributing to climate change.

On the other hand, the environmental impact of fossil fuel consumption is becoming increasingly worrying. Indeed, global warming caused by the greenhouse gas emissions that accompany energy consumption risks having catastrophic effects for the planet as a whole, if nothing is done to prevent it. Its initial effects are becoming increasingly apparent and require an urgent response.