Fossil fuel addiction – the biggest threat to energy transition says Octopus Energy CEO

“We should not forget that without fossil fuels, Putin would not have the leverage or the finances to have attacked Ukraine,” said UK’s Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson.

Jackson, speaking in the opening keynote at Enlit Europe in Frankfurt after D-TEK project manager Vadym Utkin, was highlighting the risks our existing energy system has created by encouraging an overreliance on fossil fuels, and in turn, giving regimes power.

What’s the role of fossil fuels in the future? “Maybe there isn’t one,” said Jackon.

“Ukraine would not be suffering today if we weren’t so addicted to fossil fuels,” said Jackon, who stated that the war has been funded by fossil fuel purchases from the Russian regime.

“The reality is that the world is changing,” and renewables are a better solution.

Jackson stressed the need to double down on our mission to reduce fossil fuels, a process which he suggests will not decrease energy security if we build a distributed, renewables-based system.

He stated this while acknowledging that gas still plays a critical role in Octopus Energy’s service delivery model to customers.

“We need the energy system to learn from the internet – a distributed energy system with many nodes and the ability to self-heal. [This will be] more resilient and robust than a centralised system that so many still believe gives us security of supply.”

Jackon stressed the need for fossil fuel companies to use their customer bases and infrastructure to drive the transition and make fewer excuses for not moving to renewables.

The fact is that renewables are becoming cheaper – an unfortunate situation for fossil fuels, said Jackson. And wishful thinking won’t help the situation.

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“You can’t convince yourself that what you’re good at is also what consumers and society want.” And boards are rife with wishful thinking, suggests Jackson.

“We need to put aside our political ambitions,” he added, “and not politely nod along as nations and companies plan to extend fossil fuels”.

Jackson made it clear that we have the technology now to drive renewables, to provide the low-carbon, guilt-free, low-cost energy customers want and need.

But first, we need to rid the sector of the “incumbent thinking holding us back”.