Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 15 2022

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

War in Ukraine raises

importance of renewables in

biggest energy shock since 1973

GLOBAL RUSSIA’S invasion of Ukraine has pushed Europe must find new solutions to reduce
energy security up to the top of the agenda, its fuel dependency on Russia, while the Global
raising the importance of energy efficiency and South can leapfrog to cheap, stable, and domestic
faster renewable growth. renewable energy without increasing its expo-
Recent analysis from the Rocky Mountain sure to fossil fuels.
Institute (RMI) said that will put the peak of The RMI analysis noted that the price of
world fossil fuel demand behind us renewables has been falling in recent years.
However, governments will need to show Since 2010, new energy solutions became
speed, agility, coordination, and a broadened cheaper than fossil fuels, driving renewables’
and integrated vision to respond if they are to exponential growth, so in fossil fuel demand
succeed to reducing imports of Russian fossil peaked and began to decline.
fuels. OECD fossil fuel demand peaked in 2006,
The invasion of Ukraine has led to the US world coal demand peaked in 2014, fueled car
government to ban Russian oil imports, while demand peaked in 2017.
European countries have committed themselves Solar and wind have been growing exponen-
to reducing gas imports to zero and to cutting tially at 20% year for the past decade, driven by
oil imports. increasing returns to volume.
With Russia being cut out of markets, creat- Looking ahead, along with faster renewa-
ing a classic supply-side shock, prices are rising. ble development, increased efficiency is also
The result of this is that higher fossil fuel important.
prices will make oil, gas and coal lose out to The analysis made the point that this 2022
renewables earlier and more broadly. The issue of energy shock is about as big as 1973, but nearly
energy security will return to the fore after long a half-century of experience with supply disrup-
being neglected. tions has made the world far better prepared to
This sudden change can only help the battle deal with the interruption of up to Russia’s one-
against climate change while also galvanising the ninth of global fossil-fuel output.™
political change needed to push forward a radi-
cal re-orientation of global energy markets.

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 15 13•April•2022