Historian and economist Adam Tooze looks at the feasibility of EU NetZero by 2050 drawing upon EU Commision work and a substantial Mckinsey paper on this. And the conclusion from this, is that it is feasible although ambitious. He also mentions the work of Vaclav Smil (who most energy thinkers draw work from) and debates with Helen Thompson.

It’s a long detailed piece ( 5 - 10 mins) which coupons hundreds of pages of analysis which itself draws upon a lot of other work. Good reading for climate thinkers.

“Decarbonisation by 2050 is ambitious but feasible. According to McKinsey, almost three-quarters of the emissions reductions we need to attain by 2030—73 per cent to be precise—can be achieved with technologies which are either mature or in the stage of early adoption, such as electric vehicles. Only 5 per cent of the cuts necessary rely on technologies still on the drawing board. Even if we look as far out as 2050, 87 per cent of the necessary reductions can be achieved with technologies which are already in use or have, at least, been demonstrated on a small scale. That leaves 14 per cent to be covered by blue-sky innovation. “

His blog here.