As a science museum, we have a responsibility to engage the public both in the ways that science and innovation have created the problem and in how they will produce solutions. The new gallery will show how the IEA’s roadmap might be achieved, with the decarbonisation of electricity supplies, the development of low-carbon energy sources such as blue and green hydrogen, solar, wind and nuclear, and smarter and more sustainable storage and distribution of electrical power.
It will also examine the power of imagining energy futures, now and in the past. By imagining a world powered through electricity, Thomas Edison created the world’s first public electricity network in 1882. 

That network, powered by coal, helped to transform societies – but as we now know was part of a carbon-intensive model whose damaging legacy we are grappling with today. Some potential futures failed to materialise. The museum’s collection includes the Bersey electric cab, built in 1897 with a top speed of 9mph and a range of 30 miles. Sadly, it was an idea ahead of its time. More than a century on, our gallery will shine a light on the choices for governments, companies and citizens. We will retain editorial control and an expert external panel will keep its accuracy under review; so much then for the jibe from campaigners, for which no evidence has been offered, that we will surrender control or self-censor because of sponsorship.

The Science Museum Group’s decision to continue to accept support from some energy companies, including Shell and BP, is neither taken lightly nor in ignorance that it will be criticised by some. It reflects a conviction that there is little hope of achieving the energy transition quickly enough to avoid dire consequences without deploying the enormous wealth and expertise tied up in these energy businesses.

The IEA estimates the cost of achieving net zero globally at around £3 trillion, so we need industry and market forces globally to get behind this shift alongside governments. The polarising approach of activists who rage against private enterprise, and dismiss any step forward as misdirection, gets us nowhere.

The huge change our planet is crying out for is going to require difficult decisions and uncomfortable coalitions, and the demonisation of the energy sector will hinder, not help, that difficult journey.

Dame Mary Archer is chair of the Science Museum Group