Europe scrambling to cope with energy crisis as winter approaches
The HinduPublished : Oct 06, 2022 09:55 IST Travelling through Germany and Slovenia at the end of August, I found it hard to see the effects of the worst energy crisis that Europe has been undergoing in recent years—a combination of the effect of Russia ceasing gas supplies and the worst drought the continent has faced in 500 years. As one of the companies deeply involved in and supportive of Russian gas supplies to Europe—it raked in impressive profits from its investment in a Gazprom gasfield in Russia this year—it is now being forced by public opinion, supply concerns, and pricing to look at energy alternatives rather than investing further in a carbon-intensive future. As the EU is forced to wean its industries and energy infrastructure from Russian gas supply, it will lower the need for it to keep arguing that natural gas is a “green energy” source, and more importantly, it may serve as an impetus for innovating beyond natural gas, which will be far more useful to developing countries. The shock of Russia’s Ukraine war, and the energy crisis that it has led to, is forcing Europe to reckon with these issues.