We Have Been Reading the Energy Transition Charts Wrong. Here Is Why.

A new Ember report co-authored by Bloomberg New Energy Finance founder Michael Liebreich argues that the fossil fuel dominance shown in most global energy charts comes down to a flawed measurement system, not a stalled transition. Traditional "primary energy" accounting treats one unit of coal identically to one unit of wind electricity, even though roughly two-thirds of coal's energy content never reaches anyone as useful power. It disappears as waste heat before it leaves the power station. When you measure what energy systems actually deliver rather than what they extract, renewables look dramatically more competitive than the headline numbers suggest. That same efficiency gap plays out right in your driveway. See today's opinion piece for the street-level version.