As a result, countries around the world have banded together to decarbonize the energy grid. Japan, Canada, and the EU have already passed legally binding net zero commitments, and more than 130 countries have now set or are considering a policy target of reducing emissions to net zero, including China (by 2060) and the U.S. (by 2030).

As with preceding disruptions, this shift represents a transformation in energy as much as work. Just as the First Disruption depended on the energy of domesticated animals, humans and the elements, and the Second was powered by the condensed solar energy of fossil fuels, the Third Disruption sees a move away from hydrocarbons and back to renewable

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While we are converting increasing shares of electricity generation to new renewables (solar and wind, as opposed to the long-established hydroelectricity) and putting more electric cars on the roads, decarbonizing trucking, flying, and shipping will be a much greater challenge, as will the production of key materials without relying on fossil fuel

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Even though the supply of new renewables (wind, solar, new biofuels) rose impressively, about 50-fold, during the first 20 years of the 21st century, the world’s dependence on fossil carbon declined only marginally, from 87 percent to 85 percent of the total supply, and most of that small relative decline was attributable to expanded hydroelectrici

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