Energy Crisis

IEA’s Birol debunks three myths about global energy crisis

Birol Three myths about the global energy crisis

Photo: Fatih Birol/Twitter

Published

September 7, 2022

Country

Comments

0

Share

Published:

September 7, 2022

Country:

Comments:

0

Share

“As the global energy crisis continues to hurt households, businesses and entire economies worldwide, it’s important to separate fact from fiction. There are three narratives in particular that I hear about the current situation that I think are wrong – in some cases dangerously so,” Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol wrote in an op-ed for the Financial Times.

  • Myth 1: Russia is winning the energy battle

A short-term jump in energy export earnings can’t offset a permanent loss of trust and markets, Birol said and added the Kremlin is doing itself long-term harm by alienating the EU, its biggest customer. Its oil and gas sector will also struggle under sanctions, he asserted.

According to Birol, the absence of western companies, technologies and service providers as a result of sanctions is a major risk for the country’s capacity to exploit oil and gas, and especially for its LNG projects.

  • Myth 2: Today’s crisis is a clean energy crisis

The head of IEA said energy policy makers told him they have regretted not moving faster to build solar and wind plants, to improve energy efficiency.

In fact, more low-carbon energy would have helped ease the crisis, and a faster transition is the best way out of it, Birol said.

In his view, when people blame clean energy for the crisis, they are moving the spotlight away from the real culprits: the gas crunch and Russia.

  • Myth 3: Today’s crisis will stop us from tackling climate change

The crisis can actually be a historic turning point towards a cleaner and more affordable and secure energy system, Birol wrote and added the crisis is a stark reminder of the unsustainability of the current energy system, which is dominated by fossil fuels.

According to Birol, the transition to a more affordable and more secure energy system is already happening. The proofs are REPowerEU, the United States Inflation Reduction Act, Japan’s GX (Green Transformation), and clean energy plans in China and India.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

western balkans

Greece presents plan to export green energy to Europe through Western Balkans

23 March 2023 - The Greek PM floated a plan to export renewable electricity to Europe through new interconnections with a focus on the Western Balkans

NIS will produce green and blue hydrogen at refinery in Banat region

NIS to produce green, blue hydrogen near its refinery in northeast Serbia

23 March 2023 - NIS has extended the public call for the design and technical documentation development for a hydrogen production plant

Balkans-lag-2022-global-renewables-growth-solar-power-picks-up-pace

Balkans mostly lag behind 2022 global renewables growth but solar power picks up pace

22 March 2023 - The world added a record 295 GW of renewable electricity capacity last year, increasing the stock by 9.6%, IRENA said

Fintel selects Windey preferred supplier giant wind park Serbia

Fintel selects Windey as preferred supplier for giant wind park in Serbia

21 March 2023 - Italy-based Fintel intends to purchase wind turbines from Zhejiang Windey for its 854 MW Maestrale Ring project in north Serbia