Francisco divulges world wide consequences due to Russia's War with Ukraine.
Russia’s war on Ukraine forces many countries away from Russian oil and gas, leading to an impending energy crisis—and potentially a new shift towards clean energy.
Russia is an oil and natural gas capital of the world. Many countries throughout the world rely on them for fuel. However, since Russia’s war on Ukraine, European and American countries have attempted finding ways to boycott Russian oil companies in response to the war. This has led to a shortage, and therefore increased prices, of natural gas and oil. With the upcoming winter predicted to be one of the hardest to hit in Europe, this energy crisis has been forefront in the minds of the people and governments throughout the world.
Throughout Europe, individual stakeholders, industrial consumers, and even governments have long relied on Russian gas. However, governments such as Germany have managed to step away from this source of energy. Since the beginning of the war, Germany has reduced its dependence on Russia’s gas from 35% to 12%. Many German refineries have had contingency plans in place to edge away from Russian energy, and several bans are beginning to be set in motion to prohibit Russian oil. Additionally, Poland has also started buying oil from Norway, when it previously relied on Russian oil for 50% of its supply.
However, Russia has found a market in countries such as China, which only transports the market instead of changing it. More action and change is needed, especially in Global South countries, in order to properly turn away from Russian oil and gas.
But what does this mean for clean energy?
Especially in recent years, clean energy has begun to grow dramatically in popularity. Though many countries have begun to burn more coal in response to energy sources, this is not expected to last long. According to the International Energy Agency, they predicted the trends in energy will lean towards clean energy. For example, the U.S Congress has approved nearly $370 billion to be spent towards wind turbines, solar panels, nuclear power plants, and electric vehicles. Japan is closer to passing a “green transformation” program that will move to increased nuclear power, and China, India, and South Korea have increased goals for green energy. Not only this, but the continued push of clean energy has lessened the severity of spikes in gas and oil price. But, this does not negate the ever increasing impact of humanity and fossil fuels on the environment and global warming.
The War on Ukraine has resulted in energy consequences around the world. It has skyrocketed energy costs, and has the potential to increase the use of clean energy. Whether the eventual outcome will be negative or positive depends on the outcome of the war, and the actions of consumer countries, who must band together to ban Russian gas, oil, and coal.