The path to a green economy cannot wish away fossil fuels for the foreseeable future

That the world needs to transition to a green economy and follow an alternate vision of growth and development that is both self-sustainable and benign to the environment is not in doubt at all. What needs to be, however, not forgotten is the fact that such a seminal change in the growth model followed by the world cannot come about by good intentions alone. Merely expounding the virtues of wind, solar, geo-thermal and other forms of sustainable and non-polluting energy sources without understanding and accounting for the immense challenges that come in the way of implementing such a paradigm change in energy generation methodologies will inevitably lead to failure. Like it or not-fossil fuels are here to stay for a long time.