POSITIVE CORNER #13: Fossil Energy Crisis Has Led to a Turning Point

It is a widely used claim the chinese word for crisis is a combination of the chinese sign for danger and the sign for chance. While this does not seem to be exactly the case (ref. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_word_for_crisis) it seems appropriate to interpret the chinese word as associated with "turning point".

The current increases in fossil fuel prices are but one indicator of the crisis our respective energy supply systems are suffering from, However, there are strong indications this crisis has become a strong force in changing directions towards a more sustainable path. Here are just a few of them.

The strategic research provider BNEF has very recently published these findings:

1. China as the world's largest air pollution emitter is moving forward much faster than expected: "The country, which emits twice as much annually as any other nation, by 2030 cuts its emissions 17% from their 2023 peak under the ETS (faster than the government has pledged)" (ref. https://assets.bbhub.io/professional/sites/44/NEO_2026_Executive_Summary.pdf)

2. Energy storage capacities as the long standing bottleneck in the development renewable energy supply are rapidly increasing: "Energy storage surge far outpaces wind and solar growth" (ref. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/energy-storage-enters-the-100-gigawatt-era-three-things-to-know/)

Technological research has a strong focus on innovations that support the green energy transition. The popular science website Live Science recently states these two examples:

1. "New water battery could last until the 24th century — and it can be safely discarded in the environment" (ref. https://www.livescience.com/technology/engineering/new-water-battery-could-last-until-the-24th-century-and-it-can-be-safely-discarded-in-the-environment)

2. "Researchers turned hard-to-recycle plastic into hydrogen using battery acid. This circular upcycling system tackles multiple problematic waste streams at once, the scientists claim." (ref. https://www.livescience.com/chemistry/clean-hydrogen-created-from-plastic-waste-using-battery-acid-from-old-cars-and-solar-power)

In its latest weekly news roundup the Positive News platform reports that "... global sales of new motor cars have fallen by around a quarter since their 2017 peak, to just over 60m in 2025. Sales of electric cars, meanwhile, more than doubled between 2022 to 2025. The pace is accelerating." (ref. https://www.positive.news/society/good-news-stories-from-week-22-of-2026/).

Even if the claimed association of the chinese word for "crisis" with the signs for "danger" and "chance" has its flaws, there may be a hidden truth underneath which is not backed by the mere word.