The great electric shift

Hi everyone,

This month, I’ve been learning a lot more about the drive within sustainability to “just electrify everything”.

It’s an idea that gets thrown around a lot, and largely for good reason. Swapping fossil fuels for clean electricity is one of the simplest and most scalable ways to decarbonise entire sectors. And it’s already happening quickly in many areas.

But how far can we take it? And where does electrification hit its limits?

Let’s unpack what it would mean to “electrify everything”, what’s already working, and where we need breakthroughs or to consider alternatives.

Why Electrification Is Such a Big Deal

The idea behind electrification is simple. If we can run things on clean electricity instead of fossil fuels, we can cut emissions at the source. It can turn even the most carbon-intensive systems into zero-emission ones as long as the grid is clean (but that’s a whole other topic).

In other words, electrification only works as a climate solution if we work to decarbonise the power grid at the same time. Otherwise, we’re just shifting emissions from one place to another. It’s no use driving electric cars if they’re all charged using a grid 100% powered by fossil fuels!

The good news here is that renewables are scaling at record rates, and electricity is getting cleaner around the world. This means electrification is one of the easiest and lowest-cost routes we have to completely decarbonise industries like transport, heating and more!

Where It’s Already Working

Let’s start with the wins, as thankfully, there are already tons of great examples of electrification delivering real climate impact, and at a serious scale.

Transport
EVs have become the poster child for electrification, and for good reason. Battery costs are falling each year, charging networks are expanding, and in many countries, EV sales are now outpacing petrol cars. Electric scooters, bikes and buses are all growing fast too, especially in cities. Every mile travelled with electric power is one mile less powered by fossil fuels!

Heating
Heat pumps are one of the most exciting bits of climate tech we probably don’t hear spoken about enough. They can replace gas boilers in homes and buildings with highly efficient electric systems that both heat and cool. In many places, this can save people money, whilst completely removing gas power from many people’s homes.

Cooking and appliances
Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a major shift in cooking appliances moving away from gas to more modern induction hobs and electric fan ovens. Like heat pumps, these appliances help eliminate gas use, often saving money (and improving indoor air quality).

The Harder Stuff

There is still a long list of industries that need to go through the process of electrification. For many of these, it’s technically possible, but either really difficult, expensive or just impractical to implement.

Heavy industry
Steel, cement, and chemical production all require high temperatures and specific reactions that are tough to replicate with electricity alone. We’re starting to see progress through solutions like green hydrogen and electric arc furnaces, but these aren’t plug-and-play solutions yet. Manufacturing accounts for astronomical amounts of emissions each year, so shifting this to electric power will be a game-changer when we get it right.

Long-haul transport
Short-haul EVs are thriving, but we need to bring this movement to other areas of transportation, like long-haul flights, shipping, and freight trucks. The longer range and bigger scales need more power and range than current batteries can deliver efficiently, so we need major innovation to make this work at scale. Sustainable aviation fuels, hydrogen, and synthetic fuels might be better suited here in the short term, but electrification should be the long-term goal.

Backup power and seasonal demand
Electrifying everything also raises questions about energy storage and grid stability. How can we generate and store enough electricity to meet seasonal heating demand if every home is heated with a heat pump? What about keeping the lights on during long, cold spells or cloudy weeks when so much of our grid relies on solar?

New technologies like thermal storage, smarter grid management and long-duration batteries all need to work together to make electrification at scale possible.

What Electrification Doesn’t Solve

It’s worth pointing out that “electrify everything” isn’t a silver bullet. It’s a powerful solution, but not the only one we need.

Electrification doesn’t reduce overconsumption or waste. It doesn’t address land use, biodiversity loss, or unsustainable supply chains. And it can’t decarbonise industries where fossil fuels are embedded into products themselves (like plastics or fertilisers).

It’s also only as clean as the electricity behind it. So if countries are still running on coal-heavy grids, then electrification won’t deliver the full benefit we need.

These are all solvable challenges, but ones we need to keep in mind.

What This Means For Us

We’re not all grid operators or energy policymakers, but we do all live in homes, travel, and use energy every day. That means the decisions we make, from how we heat our homes to what we drive and even how we cook, really do matter.

Electrifying everything doesn’t have to mean giving things up, it just means switching how we power them!

And thankfully, that’s a shift that’s already well underway.

Catch you next week,
James

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