--- title: "The World Oscillates Between Conventional Energy and Renewable Energy | Ghazi Mahmoud" url: https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/2026-06-10-8df50c/ lang: en description: "After concerns over climate change, caused by fossil fuel emissions, had been building pressure to curb the expansion of oil and gas use and encouraging greater investment in renewable energy sources, sustained and accelerating demand for oil and gas amid the repercussions of the US-Israeli war on Iran has come to underscore the enduring importance of conventional energy." --- [All articles](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/) # The World Oscillates Between Conventional Energy and Renewable Energy [Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Dr. Ghazi Mahmoud](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/about/) 10 Jun 2026 · 5 min read [Energy, oil and gas](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/energy/) After concerns over climate change, caused by fossil fuel emissions, had been building pressure to curb the expansion of oil and gas use and encouraging greater investment in renewable energy sources, sustained and accelerating demand for oil and gas amid the repercussions of the US-Israeli war on Iran has come to underscore the enduring importance of conventional energy. This is especially true given that the energy transition is a gradual, long-term process that must take place through an orderly and balanced shift taking into account the needs of the global economy and the security of supplies. This transition has remained slow even though the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix is rising steadily and now stands at the heart of national energy strategies. Renewable energy accounts for around 34% of electricity generation worldwide, and electricity production from renewable sources rose in 2025 to around 692 gigawatts, an increase of 15.5% over the previous year. Its share of total final energy consumption in the transport, heating, and industrial sectors, however, does not exceed 18%. Notably, this rapid growth in renewable energy barely suffices to meet additional demand for energy, rather than increasing its share in the energy mix. Although its technologies are advancing and its tools are developing rapidly to occupy a wider space and play a larger role in the future of energy, it still needs more time to develop infrastructure and storage technology before it is capable of meeting energy demand on its own. By contrast, fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) continue to retain their pivotal role in the global energy system and the energy mix as a result of a range of economic, geopolitical, and technical factors. Foremost among these factors are population growth and ongoing urban expansion, alongside the growing needs of the industrial and transport sectors and rising electricity consumption in emerging economies. Another factor is that the oil and gas sectors possess some of the largest infrastructure in the world, encompassing fields, pipelines, refineries, storage terminals, and ports, as well as the most complex supply chain and tanker networks, which secure the flow of more than 100 million barrels per day from extraction sites to end consumers, giving them a strategic advantage that renewable energy remains unable to match in full. The market value of logistics services dedicated to oil and gas supply chains stands at around $234 billion and is expected to exceed $400 billion by 2035. The total value of the energy sector as a whole, including production, refining, and distribution, runs into the trillions of dollars, with the sector's global market value exceeding $8.7 trillion. Furthermore, the accelerating spread of artificial intelligence technologies, together with the boom in building data centers and their massive expansion, has driven electricity consumption to unprecedented levels, leaving renewable energy sources unable, on their own, to meet growing global energy demand. At a time when many countries were seeking to phase out reactors and coal-fired plants for electricity generation, the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 prompted them to return to using coal to generate electricity and to hold off on demolishing the remaining reactors. Remarkably, renewable energy projects, particularly solar and wind, have reinforced the use of natural gas in electricity generation, leading gas to play a vital role in stabilizing the grid by providing baseload power and preventing the widespread interruptions that affect renewable energy, rather than sidelining it and curbing its use, especially since the cost of using gas remains lower than the cost of storing surplus renewable energy. And while the expanding use of electric vehicles is gradually reducing demand for road transport fuel, it does not eliminate the need for oil in producing fuel for aircraft, ships, and heavy trucks, nor does it eliminate its role in manufacturing plastics, fertilizers, chemicals, heavy industrial goods, petrochemicals, and products across other industries. It is also worth noting that the transition to renewable energy faces numerous challenges, most notably high upfront investment costs, production fluctuations (interruptions) linked to climatic factors, shortages in power grid infrastructure, and the urgent need for practical energy storage solutions, as well as constraints related to the availability of land and space. Moving too quickly to abandon conventional sources could trigger price and supply crises, whereas moving too slowly on the renewable transition compounds environmental and climate risks. The real challenge facing nations lies not in choosing between oil and gas or renewable energy, but in managing the transition between them at the lowest possible economic and social cost. Conventional energy will therefore remain a strong presence in the global energy mix, especially in sectors that are difficult to shift to clean alternatives. Consequently, oil and gas maintain their standing not because they are the best option environmentally, but because they remain the readiest, densest, and most flexible option across many vital uses. Notably, US President Donald Trump plays a pivotal role in bolstering fossil fuels and preserving their substantial share in the energy mix, encouraging the drilling of more wells under the slogan "Drill, baby, drill," increasing the issuance of drilling and exploration permits, and using his powers to support the coal sector, while also cutting support for renewable energy and once again withdrawing the United States from international climate agreements. Accordingly, it can be said that oil and gas have not regained their standing because the world has abandoned its environmental ambitions, but because reality has exposed the limits of a rapid and unbalanced transition. Renewable energy represents the future of energy and its promising horizons, yet on its own it has not become the mainstay of the present. Today, the world awaits the completion of research into nuclear fusion and its "miniature suns," after experiments crossed the threshold of generating more energy than is consumed in the reactions, so that it may obtain clean, inexhaustible energy. Until that time, oil and gas will remain a safety valve for the global economy, a fundamental pillar of energy security, and an indispensable tool during a phase that still appears long and complex. Translated from Arabic with AI. [Read it in Arabic](https://ghazimahmoud.com/articles/2026-06-10-8df50c/) ## Published in - [Channel 23](https://ch23.com/Article/369991/العالم-يتأرجح-بين-الطاقة-التقليدية-والطاقة-المتجددة) - [Al-Duha magazine](https://dhohamagazine.com/العالم-يتأرجح-بين-الطاقة-التقليدية-وا/) - [Lebanon Files](https://www.lebanonfiles.com/2026/articles/باقلامهم/العالم-يتأرجح-بين-الطاقة-التقليدية-وا/) - [Anbaa Online](https://anbaaonline.com/news/330749) - [OZ Arab Media](https://ozarab.media/العالم-يتأرجح-بين-الطاقة-التقليدية-وا/) - [MTV Lebanon](https://www.mtv.com.lb/news/1706231) ## More on energy, oil and gas [All articles on this subject](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/energy/) [27 May 2026 · The Repercussions of the War and the Fertiliser Crisis on Agriculture in Lebanon and the World · Al-Duha magazine, OZ Arab Media ](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/2026-05-27-b692ae/) [13 May 2026 · Energy and Its Prices at the Mercy of the Strait of Hormuz · Channel 23, Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal ](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/2026-05-13-65b4a3/) [7 May 2026 · From the Petrodollar to the Petroyuan: Will the UAE's Decision to Withdraw from "OPEC and OPEC+" Accelerate the Global Shift? · Anbaa Online ](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/2026-05-07-ed773d/)