This is a good thread on European gas dependency, and it testifies to why the US should be pushing even harder to prevent new pipelines from Russia: because it makes it too easy for Europe to stay dependent when they need a painful transition.
https://twitter.com/ntsafos/status/1490692143689748484
Europe does not have enough gas to meet its energy needs.
The solutions to this are either:
Import a lot of gas and render your foreign policy totally dependent on Russia's whims...
... or find other energy sources.
The solutions to this are either:
Import a lot of gas and render your foreign policy totally dependent on Russia's whims...
... or find other energy sources.
European countries ARE finding other energy sources! But they have critically downweighted the possible costs of importation because they act as if the era of great power conflict is over.
A big energy-using region like Europe with few local energy sources should be rolling out renewables and new nuclear power at a breakneck speed.
Instead, Europe has rolled out renewables at.... exactly the pace of energy-rich America.
Instead, Europe has rolled out renewables at.... exactly the pace of energy-rich America.
The urgency with which Europe is adding renewables is what you'd expect from a country with huge fossil fuel reserves like the US: they're in no particular hurry.
There is of course a lot of variety in Europe. Germany and Denmark have added a lot of renewables. France and Italy have not. Renewable generation in Norway, Sweden, and Finland is extremely high, but is not increasing.
In fact Norway, the renewable-titan of Europe due to hydro dams, has actually had *declining* renewable generation per capita since around 2000.
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