No Transition: Genealogy of the Invention of "Energy Transition," an Interpretation by Historian Jean-Baptiste Fressoz

Abstract

The notion of "energy transition" is being questioned based on the work Sans transition. Une nouvelle histoire de l’énergie by the French historian Jean-Baptiste Fressoz. We seek to complement the debate with some data on energy in Brazil. Over time, as the global warming crisis progresses, the concept will be adopted by institutional actors, governments, NGOs, environmental movements, and others. It will be secured in the greenwashed discourses of major fossil energy companies and will be associated with innovation and interpretations of technological evolution. Indeed, we observe a continuous evolution from World War II to the 21st century of all fossil energy sources and their symbiosis with various types of "new energies" and minerals. As the predominant choices are to continue economic growth and seek technical solutions to global warming, nature has been captured as a source of wealth, and geoengineering dominates policies addressing climate and environmental changes.