Electrons vs molecules – part 1: friends or foe?

When Laurent Fabius brought down the gavel on the Paris Agreement at the COP 21 United Nations climate talks in December 2015, the then French foreign minister marked the biggest step forward in climate negotiations in decades. The wave of euphoria and relief that swept through the enormous conference centre, erected on an old airfield in northern Paris, was palpable.

But agreeing to take action is one thing and keeping the promise quite another. Only now, five years on, is the need for climate neutrality by 2050 – a central requirement of the Paris Agreement – being taken seriously by most governments and companies. The big question they are grappling with is: how to get there.