The article assesses the limitations of the minimum viable scale of key fossil fuel components such as oil refineries, gas pipelines and coal-fired power plants.[2] Authors Joshua Lappen and Emily Grubert warn that reducing these systems below this level can cause the physical, financial and managerial foundations to fail, causing service collapse, security risks, economic shocks and environmental damage.[2] Such failures can cascade into the interconnected networks of the fossil economy and undermine public confidence in the energy transition.[2] Research and policy to date have focused mainly on building low-carbon systems, but less on properly reducing existing fossil infrastructure.[2] The authors emphasize the need for better modeling and more coordinated planning to mitigate these risks in the transition to low-emission energy.[2]