Energy Transition Debate: Electric Vehicles, Oil And The “Green” Paradox

The global energy transition is popularly viewed as an accelerated and irreversible transformation from fossilfuels to renewable sources and e-mobility. However, this tale frequently overlooks the deep and deep-seated underlyingstructural, economic, and geopolitical forces motivating the oil sector, and the environmental and health-related challengesimplicit in electric vehicle technologies. This chapter offers a critical evaluation of the resilience of the oil industry in thecontext of an energy transition framework and explains the environmental paradox of “green” energy solutions. Basedon qualitative synthesis of recent LCA, environmental science peer-reviewed works, policy analysis, the paper reachesthree key conclusions. Oil is still embedded in global energy systems as a result of inertia of its infrastructure, dependenceon industrial sectors, and geopolitical interests. Second, the deployment of EVs transfers much of environmental loadupstream, particularly when it comes to battery production and raw materials. Third, certain environmental and healthrisks, including those tied to lithium-ion battery production and their management at the end of the life cycle, are specificto technologies associated with electric vehicles and not present in traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Thepaper argues that decarbonization is necessary but that an accounting of the dynamics of the energy transition requiresa reckoning about oil’s continuing relevance, and with the hidden costs of electrification