when it comes to the energy transition itself, we may still have much to learn about the complexities that lie ahead
Transitioning energy is a road we haven't gone down before, so it's important to take this opportunity to learn the best courses of action we can take.
“Covid has wrecked [the] finances of many African countries, and African countries cannot be expected to cut fossil-fuel production, as it is essential to the finances of several African countries.”
This would be like cutting off a group from the rest of society and taking away all of their resources; it isn't exactly justifiable.
Yet there’s no ready alternative for Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million and a per capita income that’s one-12th of the United States’, and which depends on oil and gas exports for 70 percent of its budget and 40 percent of its GDP.
Forcing limitations in the name of transitioning to renewable energy will more than likely produce economic impacts that could impede the transition toward being more renewable.
“Limiting the development of gas projects poses big challenges for African nations, while they would make an insignificant dent in global emissions,” he said
Another risk that could be associated with trying to fast-track ourselves to renewables by 2050.
So while the European Union debates whether natural gas has any appropriate role in its own future energy program, India is building a $60 billion natural-gas infrastructure system to reduce its reliance on coal, thereby reducing stifling pollution for its urban population and bringing down carbon-dioxide emissions
If renewable energy programs are as successful as many countries are hoping for, this plan would be somewhat useless. In the end, it's all just a big game of risk vs. reward.
In addition to climate, they struggle with recovering from COVID-19, reducing poverty, promoting economic growth, improving health, and maintaining social stability.
While I believe that this affects impoverished countries more, I also think that these political problems are currently going on everywhere.
The rancor of that divide was reduced over time with the advance of globalization, the rise of emerging markets, and increased economic integration.
This would demonstrate that integration seems like an excellent opportunity to produce the best results, so perhaps it would be the best option to create more achievable sustainability goals.
In other words, oil and natural-gas products are deeply embedded throughout modern life.
This would imply that no matter what we will never be using 100% renewable resources.
In its place is intended to be a net-carbon-free energy system, albeit one with carbon capture, for what could be a $185 trillion economy in 2050
The transition from $86 trillion to $185 trillion is a very dramatic and optimistic outlook for the world's economy in 30 years.
Oil, discovered in 1859, did not surpass coal as the world’s primary energy source until the 1960s, yet today the world uses almost three times as much coal as it did in the ’60s.
Are we using three times as much coal due to increasing populations or a dramatic increase in our use of coal for energy production? Perhaps it's both factors causing this increase.
If it’s a onetime event, then the world will move on in a few months. But if it is followed by further energy shortages, governments could be forced to rethink the timing and approach to their climate goals.
Would this indicate that the fast-tracked transition to renewable energy sources is burning through our current nonrenewable reserves?
That—along with worsening inflation—is why the Biden administration asked Saudi Arabia and Russia to put more oil into the market, so far to no avail.
Asking Russia for more oil may have been unsuccessful due to Russia preparing for their current conflict with Ukraine.
In Europe, the energy shortages were made worse by low wind speeds in the North Sea, which for a time drastically reduced the electricity produced by offshore wind turbines for Britain and Northern Europe
If I remember correctly, 13% of Europe is powered by wind energy. To make up for such a dramatic loss in energy, it would make sense for them to be trying to obtain some nonrenewables to keep up energy output.
liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Liquefied natural gas is a more recently popularized variant of natural gas, so is there a shortage of only the liquified state?
Energy crises traditionally begin with oil, but this recent one has been driven by shortages of coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Is the coal shortage the result of pandemic based conflict between Australia and China?
This was highlighted at the historic COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, which emphasized the need for urgency and a greater ambition on climate backed by a host of significant initiatives, including carbon markets, and country pledges of carbon neutrality by 2050 or a decade or two thereafter
How exactly do they plan to impose this idea, especially when companies like North Face who attempt to transition to renewables and still struggle with nonrenewables?
But, as it turns out, North Face’s business depends not only on people who like the outdoors, but also on oil and gas: At least 90 percent of the materials in its jackets are made from petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas.
There's a decent chance that things like this happen with other companies beyond just North Face. At least from the perspective that companies trying to be renewable are likely still somehow using oil and natural gas in their production.
North Face describes itself as a “politically aware” brand that will not share its logo with companies that are in “tobacco, sex (including gentlemen’s clubs) and pornography.” And as far as North Face is concerned, the oil and gas industry fell into that same category—providing jackets to a company in that industry would go against its values.
While the desire to dissociate yourself from considerably haphazard processes is noble, I'm not sure it's fair to attempt to put down a group that provides something they use to produce their goods.
governments and companies have built the global energy system around natural gas almost without a second thought; it was the cheapest fuel, and easy to integrate into existing systems, so its share of energy production grew and grew. Now they are running into its problems for the first time
These problems perfectly reflect why most countries are forming initiatives to move to various renewable energy sources and creating net-zero initiatives.
Major fossil-fuel producers are fighting over the structure of the post-COVID economy.
Why are fossil-fuel producers fighting over an economic structure when there isn't even a guaranteed marker for the end of the pandemic?
The one exception is in Europe, which now uses wind power for 13 percent of its electricity. Its energy crunch has been intensified by a lack of strong offshore winds this season, worsening its need for natural gas.
This might imply that renewable energy sources can have the most risk with their use since if proper conditions aren't met, they risk having very little energy produced.
supply-constrained and under high demand: EU consumer spending has returned to its pre-pandemic levels, and Americans are driving and flying again.
Could this imply that oil is the most scarce of the four most popular energy sources?
Last year, after Australia’s prime minister accused China of obstructing an inquiry into the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, China stopped buying coal from Australia.
So China's struggles with coal that were discussed earlier on during this reading are the result of their refusal to do business with the Australians they were purchasing their coal from prior.
it is suddenly worth it for producers to capture and sell methane from a rig rather than venting it into the atmosphere
But why exactly is it more worth it for methane gas to be captured? Why exactly would people want to buy it?
Normally, a larger market might reduce the price for consumers. But natural gas is so in demand right now that it is as expensive as it’s been in years
I would guess that demand isn't affecting reduced large market prices as much as geopolitical tensions.
in the past few years, countries have started to liquify natural gas and trade it more readily across oceans
What process is used to liquify natural gas, and is its liquid form popularizing this energy source more?
Natural gas is used for thermal heating, cooking, and also electricity generation
Is the versatile use of natural gas what makes it one of the four primary energy sources around the globe, or is it just somewhat more accessible than some other sources?
After 12 years of crisis recovery and too-small government deficits, a decade when depressed demand was the world’s biggest problem, we are suddenly bursting into a world of tight supplies
Could the combination of our economic problems and our lack of value for high-demand scarcities be our downfall when it comes to cost and production capabilities?
the same factors causing shortages of nearly every type of good are also holding back the world’s energy production: that is, there is still a global pandemic happening
The pandemic is definitely a big reason for the delay of various productions, but alongside that, there are also the limitations of our nonrenewable resources, global politics, and associated price hikes.
which, finally, is driving up the cost of solar panels. It is an irony of our incomplete, abortive energy transition that a shortage of Chinese coal can increase the price of solar panels in America.
The effects on nonrenewable energy sources are affecting our ability to produce renewable energy types, so our world's desire to transition to renewable energy has been slowed by our constant use of nonrenewable energy.
The benchmark price of a barrel of crude oil is up more than 25 percent from its August low. In Asia, natural-gas prices are approaching an all-time high. The risk of a spillover is high: China, for instance, is not able to secure enough coal to run its mighty power plants,
The price of nonrenewable resources seems to be spiking across various types, so what exactly is causing such a drastic "energy crunch?"