Page 4 - AsiaElec Week 12 2022

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

Scramble to replace

Russian gas endangers

climate change targets

GLOBAL RUSSIA’S invasion of Ukraine has pushed fossil fuel dependence and close the window to
the questions of decarbonisation and energy 1.5C,” he said.
security up to the top of the political agenda as “Countries could become so consumed by
governments scramble to find alternatives to the immediate fossil fuel supply gap that they
Russian oil and gas. neglect or knee-cap policies to cut fossil fuel use,”
The immediate reaction in the EU has been to he went on. “This is madness. Addiction to fossil
accelerate the energy transition by strengthen- fuels is mutually assured destruction.”
ing and extending its commitment to the Green The UN secretary-general said in a tweet that
Deal and to turn away from Russian gas and the war in Ukraine also showed how the global
oil in a rapid U-turn that could not have been addiction to fossil fuels is placing energy secu-
expected before the war began on February 24. rity, climate action & the entire global economy
The energy price shocks caused by the war at the mercy of geopolitics.
– wholesale gas prices have risen by 10 times Global emissions rose by 6% in 2021 to a
– have concentrated minds on how to secure record high of 36.3bn, more than offsetting the
alternative energy supplies and how to replace pandemic-induced decline seen in 2020, the
imports of Russian oil and gas. International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
The EU imports 90% of its gas consump- Guterres warned: “If we continue with more
tion, with Russia providing around 45% of of the same, we can kiss 1.5C goodbye. Even 2C
those imports, in varying levels across Member may be out of reach. That would be catastrophe.”
States. Russia also accounts for around 25% of oil
imports and 45% of coal imports. Immediate concerns
Although the EU has stepped up its commit- As the war began on February 24, there were
ments to its Green Deal targets, it has warned immediate concerns that it could derail the fight
that these will come at considerable costs in against global warming and climate change as
terms of retail energy prices for consumers. energy prices soared.
Meanwhile, the immediate move away from Andrew Freedman of the think-tank Axios
Russian gas has caused governments to look at warned that the Paris Agreement temperature
nuclear power and LNG imports as one long- target was perilously close to slipping out of
term solution alongside renewables. Yet some reach, as climate change was no longer top of the
generators have not ruled out using coal as a political agenda.
short-term fix to fill energy gaps. US climate envoy John Kerry also warned
The race to find alternatives to Russian gas before war broke out that the world was losing
runs the risk of failing to meet, or delaying, the focus on emissions and mobilising green invest-
COP26 climate change goals, particularly net ment, suggesting that it would easily fail to keep
zero by 2050 and global warming limits. up the pace required to meet 2050 targets.

Utter madness Coal’s return
UN Secretary-General António Guterres There have been hints from governments and
warned on March 21 that such short-term meas- companies that coal could be the fuel to replace
ures were “madness,” and could threaten the gas immediately.
1.5C target for global warming agreed at COP26, The IEA admitted that coal could be used to
as governments scramble to secure energy sup- displace large volumes of gas relatively quickly,
plies in the face of a 10-fold rise in gas prices and even if it was costly.
a doubling in oil prices. Poland, for example, had banked on gas to
The Paris Agreement’s commitment to limit replace coal as it advanced its coal phase-out.
global warming to 1.5C is on “life support,” he Poland plans to reduce coal’s share in the mix
warned. to no more than 28% by 2040 and zero by 2049.
“As major economies pursue an ‘all-of-the- Any efforts to cut imports of gas would mean
above’ strategy to replace Russian fossil fuels, Poland would need to rethink its reliance on the
short-term measures might create long-term fuel, with coal, nuclear and imported LNG and

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