Albert Einstein is often credited with saying that if he only had one hour to solve a problem, he would spend 55 minutes thinking about that problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.
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As an engineer, I empathise. The engineering method of first identifying the problem before jumping to a solution reflects the need to get to the very heart of an issue before we can solve it.
After years of study and analysis, we know one of our greatest problems: dangerous climate change. We also know that this problem is driven by global warming due to increased greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide, in our atmosphere.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide in itself is a good and necessary thing. Our planet would be on average 33 degrees cooler without it. The root of the problem is that the balance that has existed for thousands of years is being upended by the greenhouse gases poured into the atmosphere from our human activities.
200 years of science has shown that more carbon dioxide means more solar energy is absorbed in our atmosphere, which in turn means more heat, which leads to warming.
This was not malicious - it is simply the by-product of a civilisation dependent upon energy. We use energy for growing crops, building homes, educating our children and investing in our health. Energy is integral to lifting countless millions of people out of poverty.
Each new generation brings increased demand for energy. For centuries we have satisfied that need by burning fossil fuels. Every new fuel source - from burning wood to natural gas - has added to the mix and now nearly three quarters of greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels.
For the first time in our history, new sources of energy must replace the old. Ultimately, the world will mostly shift from oil, coal and natural gas to sunshine. Sunshine that is converted by solar panels into electricity, or sunshine that creates the wind and rain that drive wind and hydroelectric turbines.
We will shift predominantly to solar and wind for electricity. The global shift will also transform how we transport energy between the continents; hydrogen will be Australia's solution.
Once we have fully transitioned from fossil fuel to zero emissions electricity we will have achieved what I call the Electric Planet.
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The transformation starts with electricity. Australia is making good progress and last year approximately 26% all our electricity in the national energy market was generated from renewable energy. And we have some world-record bragging rights to start this Olympic year: Australia has the world's highest installed solar generation capacity per capita, the highest penetration of rooftop solar on homes, and for the last three years our rate of deployment of wind and solar per capita was unmatched.
Despite this rapid progress, the pathway to the Electric Planet is not easy. We need to convert our electricity system to zero emissions then triple the output to replace fossil fuel uses in transport, industry, building heating and mine sites. That pathway is unfathomable without the ongoing deployment and development of new and improved technologies.
The Low Emissions Technology Investment Roadmap introduced last year by the Australian Government charts the contribution of low emissions technologies across the whole of the economy.
The underlying principle of the Roadmap is that we must reduce emissions while simultaneously achieving economic growth and prosperity. Both ambitions can be met by investment in new technology and developing new export markets. We have a crystal clear opportunity to be a major player in a future new energy economy, not just the present one.
The Roadmap's strategic intent is to identify low emissions technologies that have large abatement potential, substantial economic potential, build on Australia's comparative advantages and will benefit from government co-investment with industry in research, demonstration and early stage deployment.
The Roadmap's strategic goal is to hasten the low emissions newcomer technologies down their cost curve to the point where they become cost competitive with high emissions incumbents, at which time a tipping point will occur and customers will embrace the newcomers.
And because we are looking at the future well beyond 2030, the Roadmap does not shy away from technologies that will take many years to deliver substantial rewards.
Stealing a line from 1950's American automobile industry, I like to refer to this deliberate attempt to replace the old with the new as "planned obsolescence".
I had the honour to chair the panel that advised the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor, on the first instalment of the Roadmap, released last year. We identified five priority technologies for support: clean hydrogen, electricity storage, zero emissions steel and aluminium, geosequestration through carbon capture and storage, and biosequestration through increasing the concentration of organic carbon in soils.
I am now serving the Australian Government as Special Adviser to assist with identifying partnerships with other countries in low emission technology research and deployment. It is only through partnerships that we can tackle this global problem.
The global community has done the thinking and the analysis. We know the problem and the root cause. It is time to deploy solutions before our final five minutes are up.
Alan Finkel was Australia's chief scientist between 2016 and 2020, and is currently special adviser to the Australian government on low-emissions technologies. He is the author of the latest Quarterly Essay, Getting to Zero: Australia's Energy Transition published today, and will be appearing at the University of Newcastle on Tuesday 23 March 5 pm - attend online or in person here.
