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Why We Struggle to Go Green

Hard Truths About the Clean Energy Transition

By Thomas Manuel Ortiz

Why We Struggle to Go Green is Thomas Manuel Ortiz’s assessment of the clean energy transition, written by a mechanical engineer with thirty years across conventional and renewable energy. His argument is that no technological fix solves human-induced climate change on its own, and that a credible path requires giving up the hope of building our way out.  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.

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About

Clean energy won’t save us from the effects of climate change.

In Why We Struggle to Go Green, Thomas Manuel 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 He explains why the clean energy transition is slower and more complicated than most people realize, and what it will really take to move away from fossil fuels. Drawing on science, policy, and economics.

Why We Struggle to Go Green breaks down five pillars of the transition and shows how each can help cut emissions when used in the real world:

  1. Electrification
  2. Carbon capture and storage
  3. Hydrogen
  4. Recycling
  5. Carbon pricing

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. Finding a credible path to a sustainable future means setting aside prmises of building our way out of humanity’s addictions to energy and material convenience.

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.

Details

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

Reviews
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.”

FAQ

What is Why We Struggle to Go Green about?

Why We Struggle to Go Green examines the physical limits on the energy transition — what electrification, carbon capture, hydrogen, recycling, and carbon pricing can and cannot deliver. Thomas Manuel Ortiz argues that each has real constraints, that no combination of them substitutes for reducing consumption, and he closes with changes he acknowledges are painful and contested.

Is Why We Struggle to Go Green a climate denial book?

No. It accepts human-induced climate change as its premise and argues about what will and will not work in response. Ortiz describes his own position as climate realism, and his conclusions are critical of optimistic technology forecasts rather than of the underlying science.

What are the five pillars of the energy transition?

  1. Electrification
  2. Carbon capture and storage
  3. Hydrogen
  4. Recycling
  5. Carbon pricing

Ortiz assesses each in turn, with attention to the physical and resource constraints on scaling them.

About the Author

Thomas Manuel Ortiz
Thomas Manuel Ortiz

Thomas Manuel Ortiz is an engineer with 30 years of diverse experience in energy, from hydrogen/solar cogeneration research and the use of recycled carbon dioxide as a net-zero refrigerant to oil and gas exploration, production and refining to offshore wind siting and carbon sequestration.

Tom, author of the popular Substack newsletter Resource Realism, holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. in finance from Texas A&M University. He is also a registered professional engineer in the State of Texas. He lives in Austin with his wife.

Reviews

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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