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PCIM 2025 KEYNOTES Green energy isn’t free: The hard numbers behind the transition

From Luke James 5 min Reading Time

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At PCIM Europe 2025, Prof. Johann W. Kolar explained why the road to net zero will be longer, harder, and more material-intensive than expected. He highlighted the underestimation of essential factors such as storage, land, materials, and time in current models, emphasizing that overcoming these challenges is critical to meeting the global energy demand without exacerbating existing environmental problems.

At PCIM 2025, Professor Kolar showcased the underestimated challenges in the transition to net-zero, highlighting the complexity and costliness due to storage, land, and material needs. Find out more about this here.(Source: © Thanadon88 - stock.adobe.com)
At PCIM 2025, Professor Kolar showcased the underestimated challenges in the transition to net-zero, highlighting the complexity and costliness due to storage, land, and material needs. Find out more about this here.
(Source: © Thanadon88 - stock.adobe.com)

At PCIM 2025, Professor Johann W. Kolar laid out a direct challenge to current thinking around the energy transition. The math doesn’t work, he said, at least not without storage, land, materials, and time that most models underestimate. “I’m showing more of [sic] challenges than solutions, unfortunately.”

Professor Kolar, now retired from ETH Zurich and advising in Vienna, opened with a reminder. Energy use has grown exponentially since 1800. Fossil fuels still dominate. Biomass is still in the mix. And despite 20 years of policy focus, solar and wind remain a small share of global energy. The result is 40 gigatons of CO2 emissions annually. That doesn’t include methane or other gases. The clock is tight. The energy system took 150 years to build. Most net-zero plans call for replacing it in 20 to 30 years.

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