Hard Truths About the Clean Energy Transition
All the rhetoric and politics around climate change obscures a troubling truth: Clean energy technologies alone cannot solve the problem of human-induced climate change.
Why We Struggle to Go Green offers a clear-eyed assessment of our efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change from a mechanical engineer who’s spent 30 years looking for solutions.
Clean energy won’t save us from the effects of climate change.
Amid corporate Net Zero campaigns, the politics of the Green New Deal, and the calls to abandon fossil fuels for renewable technology — or vice versa — lies a troubling truth: No clean technological solutions can solve the problem of human-induced climate change.
To find a credible path to a sustainable future, we must set aside hopes of building our way out of humanity’s addictions to energy and material convenience. In Why We Struggle to Go Green, Tom Ortiz offers a clear-eyed assessment of our efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. As a mechanical engineer who has traversed the conventional and renewable energy landscapes for 30 years, Ortiz provides an in-depth yet easy-to-understand assessment of the harsh reality facing mankind.
Bridging the gap between academic research and journalism, Ortiz shows why there are no easy answers in the energy transition. Beginning with a general overview of human energy use and a summary of key physical constraints on energy and natural resource extraction, the book details five pillars of the transition: electrification, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, recycling, and carbon pricing. Ortiz concludes with recommendations for changes society can make that, while perhaps painful and controversial, will reduce our collective environmental impact and bequeath a more manageable legacy to future generations.
Why We Struggle to Go Green isn’t climate denial, it’s climate change realism from someone who’s spent decades looking for solutions.
Category: Science, Energy, Nature & Environment
Publication Date: September 23, 2025
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-965766-28-6
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-965766-29-3
Pages: 260
Trim size: 6 x 9
Olivier Germain, Director, Technology and Strategic Business Development, Halliburton Digital Solutions“This book is for anybody who can make decisions about the future. It will make you understand that the magic bullet everybody is hoping will come to cure all ills of climate change will actually end up in our foot — or worse — unless we also change the general course of our society.”
Keri Collins, Energy Industry Veteran“Dr. Ortiz has a remarkable ability to break down the complexities of climate change science, presenting it in a way that is both relatable and thoroughly understandable. This book offers an accessible and relatable approach to understanding the complexities of climate change science. Anyone who thinks there is a have your cake and eat it too solution to climate change should read Why We Struggle to Go Green. Dr. Ortiz sheds light on the challenges of reducing carbon emissions by examining how deeply embedded CO2 is in our daily lives. Why We Struggle to Go Green is a robust work that gets into the science of climate change.”
Olivier Germain, Director, Technology and Strategic Business Development, Halliburton Digital Solutions“This book is for anybody who can make decisions about the future. It will make you understand that the magic bullet everybody is hoping will come to cure all ills of climate change will actually end up in our foot — or worse — unless we also change the general course of our society.”
Keri Collins, Energy Industry Veteran“Dr. Ortiz has a remarkable ability to break down the complexities of climate change science, presenting it in a way that is both relatable and thoroughly understandable. This book offers an accessible and relatable approach to understanding the complexities of climate change science. Anyone who thinks there is a have your cake and eat it too solution to climate change should read Why We Struggle to Go Green. Dr. Ortiz sheds light on the challenges of reducing carbon emissions by examining how deeply embedded CO2 is in our daily lives. Why We Struggle to Go Green is a robust work that gets into the science of climate change.”
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