Page 6 - AfrElec Week 27 2022

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

resort town of Biarritz, temperatures reached on the environment and climate change need to
42.9°C on 18 June, the hottest ever June day in be long-term developments, and not the knee-
the town. jerk reactions to rising temperatures or war in
The world could also see more life-threatening Ukraine.
heatwaves from Asia to Europe to the Americas, Indeed, Myllyvirta expressed confidence that
turning inhabited regions into scorched deserts the underlying economics of renewable energy,
and pushing millions of people to migrate in which will continue to undercut fossil fuels as
search of more bearable temperatures. the years progress, mean that distractions from
Such extremes prompt the public to worry the climate change agenda, such as war and high
that world leaders are focusing more on the war prices, will not slow down the energy transition
in Ukraine than climate change, which has the as long as the fundamentals are in place.
potential to wipe out the human race as temper- It will become more and more obvious to gov-
atures rise, crops fail and swathes of land become ernment and companies over the next decades
uninhabitable. that green energy is cheaper and more profita-
Myllyvirta warned that high temperatures ble than oil and gas. The money that is currently
threaten to see an increase in fossil fuel burning, spent on fossil fuels will then be freed up to be
even though he argues that renewables offer a invested in renewables energy.
cheaper way out. While the economics of renewables energy
“With the high fuel prices, and with electricity seem secure, and the policymaking processes
being very tight, and demand for AC [air condi- in governments and international organisations
tioning], it can also lead to more support for fos- from COP26 to the UN and the IEA are well-es-
sil fuel power plant. That is certainly what we are tablished, political support is less certain, as pol-
seeing in China, even as the government is care- iticians chase votes and look for quick-fix way to
ful to say that these plants do not increase fos- secure cheaper energy.
sil fuel generation overall, but to meet demand What cannot be denied any more is that the
peaks,” he said. climate and the planet are in crisis, and that
“There is no economic case for more fossil rising heatwaves, melting polar ice caps, failing
fuels, even to meet peaks, in places with good crops and food insecurity are very real symp-
solar resources.” toms of man-made global warming.
However, he warned that political change The path to affordable, stable and predictable
moves slowly, and “it is going to be the media energy is resilient, and most importantly, cheap,
that drives debate when heatwaves happen. For enough to weather the storms of politicians
that to translate into meaningful policy changes, and governments reacting to the latest global
let alone political changes, will take time.” crises.™
Policy changes that will have a deep impact

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 27 07•July•2022