The Future of Technology Management and the Business Environment: Lessons on Innovation, Disruption, and Strategy Execution

8. Abundance, Scarcity, and Global Sustainability

The world depends on fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas for essential services like electricity, heat, and transportation. In 2013, more than 78 percent of the world’s energy came from fossil fuels, 19 percent came from renewables like biomass, hydro, wind, solar, and geothermal, and the rest came from nuclear energy.¹ By their very nature, the supplies of fossil fuels are finite. Their consumption yields greenhouse gases, which bear the most responsibility for global climate change. Utilization of these fuels produces common air pollutants that cause smog and endanger human health. Petroleum is found in dangerous and unstable regions of the world controlled by repressive regimes. The ...