Background
I recall my discussion with some collagues on the hypocrisy of some European countries returning to the use of coal, which is one of the dirtiest and most polluting ways of producing energy.
If nothing else, the Russian Ukraine war and the consequent rise in energy prices has brought to fore the most paramount issue facing the global energy sector today- “Energy Security”. Threat to energy security is threat to the very life of any economy, and at this point, caution can be thrown to the wind as countries go to any length to ensure availability of energy. This is seen with many countries who have in recent times declared un-wavered support for the clean energy transition, revert to the use of coal. For instance, Germany, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands have all indicated that coal-fired plants could be used to compensate for a cut in Russian gas supplies.
This is apparently hypocritical but can I fault them? My answer is No. It is their way of responding to the challenge before them. In one instance, the German Economy Minister described the government’s decision to burn more coal as a “bitter” one but said the country must do everything it can to store as much gas as possible ahead of winter. In his words, “The gas storage tanks must be full in winter. That has top priority” in order to keep its citizens warm during winter.
Will this reversal to coal affect the clean energy transition and the need to protect our climate? Most definitely, we have undeniably moved some step backwards in the journey to net zero. Nonetheless, the transition to clean energy is not an illusion or some unrealistic ambition. On the contrary, it is a reality that has come to stay despite the many obstacles. The challenges only point us to the fact that energy security and “energy independence” (my coinage) must be regarded as urgent priority. It has been argued that the current return to coal is a fall out of decades of failed energy and infrastructure policies by many countries.
From the foregoing, I did like to share a few thoughts:
i. The first and best approach to dealing with the current energy crisis should be increased deployment of renewable energy sources through the implementation of necessary legal, policy, financial and technological framework to support this.
ii. Countries who must revert to dirty fuels like coal to ameliorate the hardship caused by the energy crisis must treat this a temporal measure and a stop gap whilst they channel necessary resources towards deploying clean energy sources.
iii. Countries who are compelled to fire their coal plants at this time must do sustainably by adopting appropriate technology like the carbon capture and storage technology and other carbon offsets (natural and artificial) to mitigate to the extent possible, the climate impact.
iv. The more renewable energy sources are deployed, the more ‘energy independent‘ individuals, businesses and countries can become. Renewable energy source is free, no country or individual can own it and it is always available.
v. Truth be told, there will never be a time when there will be a complete phase out of fossil fuel. The clamour here is that generation and use of these fuels should be done responsibly, sustainably and with utmost consciousness to protect the world we live in.
Finally, the advocacy around climate change and energy transition must pay close and maximum attention to energy security. There can be no transition at the expense of economic growth and lives of citizens.
There is no “one size fit all” approach and we may not all not arrive at the destination at the same time. Every country must use its best endeavors to design its peculiar energy transition plan in a way that ensures its energy security amongst other considerations.
