Energy systems are complex. I don't fully understand them. A lot of my historical reading has given me an appreciation for "The Great Game" and has convinced me that, in all honesty, I would have played the middle east in almost the exact same way, warfare, strife, revolution, oppression and all. That said, there's a reason China is pushing so hard into solar. There's a reason T Boone Pickens pushed so hard into wind. There's a reason Elon Musk is pushing so hard into solar. Most of the Preppers are of a mind that "energy" is going to up and go away, causing a massive collapse. Most anybody with a non-apocalyptic worldview will simply notice that energy will just get more expensive, which makes the more expensive, extant sources more attractive. Check the chart. It's all going up but turbine and small scale, and heliostats, solar and wind aren't even on there. Turbine and small scale are going down largely because of fracking.
I believe that wind and solar fall under "Small Scale", if I understand the note at the bottom of the table. I've seen you mention your historical reading in the past, in regard to the Middle-East. What would you recommend reading as kind of a primer on The Great Game? Or, what might I read to start understanding it better?