The Australian Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exploded our renewables myth (theaustralian.com.au) Every day, the world spends more than $1bn buying fossil fuels from Russia. Ending this reliance has revealed the largely untrue story we have been sold about an alternative. By BJORN LOMBORG, 11th March 2022 Our continued use of Kremlin-backed oil & gas reveals two inconvenient truths. First, reliable energy maintains the foundation of modern society and few are willing to give up its benefits. Access to cheap, abundant & dependable energy has been the cornerstone of the industrial revolution & humanity’s achievements.
The controversial Nord Stream 2 undersea pipeline to pump natural gas directly from Russia to northern Germany, is owned by a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Gazprom.
The devastating Russian invasion of Ukraine has captured global attention. While the world’s focus is rightly on the human toll & suffering, the crisis has highlighted the need to end reliance on Russian oil & gas. To achieve that ambition, we must be pragmatic & invest in sensible alternatives, not engage in wishful thinking about renewable energy. Every single day, the world spends more than $US1bn on buying fossil fuels from Russia. As Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted, that money is now paying for the “murder of Ukrainian men, women & children”. We must end this reliance. However, this has proven easier said than done: over dozens of years, the world has exchanged trillions of dollars for fossil fuels from the Soviet Union and now from Russia.
Second, we have been sold a largely untrue story that renewables can give us energy independence. Campaigners & governments have promoted the idea that renewables could replace fossil fuels & still provide cheap, abundant & reliable energy, which would crucially deliver energy security while solving the challenge of global warming. The Russian invasion has exploded this myth & revealed it as nothing more than wishful thinking – especially for the members of the European Union. For decades, the EU has claimed that renewables can deliver energy security because this can be produced at home & does not need to be imported. But the key renewables solar & wind are unreliable because they only work when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. To achieve reliable power 24/7, solar & wind need back-up provided by gas. Thus, the EU’s green energy policy contributes to it paying Russia more than half a billion US dollars each day, mostly for fossil fuels & especially gas, to provide a backstop for European solar & wind.
Russian invasion of Ukraine explodes Renewables Myth – Bjorn Lomborg, The Oz 11th Mar 2022
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