Pandemic, War, and Global Energy Transitions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine have impacted the global economy, including the energy sector. The pandemic caused drastic fluctuations in energy demand, oil price shocks, disruptions in energy supply chains, and hampered energy investments, while the war left the world with energy price hikes and energy security challenges. The long-term impacts of these crises on low-carbon energy transitions and mitigation of climate change are still uncertain but are slowly emerging. This paper analyzes the impacts throughout the energy system, including upstream fuel supply, renewable energy investments, demand for energy services, and implications for energy equity, by reviewing recent studies and consulting experts in the field. We find that both crises initially appeared as opportunities for low-carbon energy transitions: the pandemic by showing the extent of lifestyle and behavioral change in a short period and the role of science-based policy advice, and the war by highlighting the need for greater energy diversification and reliance on local, renewable energy sources. However, the early evidence suggests that policymaking worldwide is focused on short-term, seemingly quicker solutions, such as supporting the incumbent energy industry in the post-pandemic era to save the economy and looking for new fossil fuel supply routes for enhancing energy security following the war. As such, the fossil fuel industry may emerge even stronger after these energy crises creating new lock-ins. This implies that the public sentiment against dependency on fossil fuels may end as a lost opportunity to translate into actions toward climate-friendly energy transitions, without ambitious plans for phasing out such fuels altogether. We propose policy recommendations to overcome these challenges toward achieving resilient and sustainable energy systems, mostly driven by energy services

Energy Security Assessment Based on a New Dynamic Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Framework

“…In the context of threats to energy security related to the dependence of many European countries on Russian energy sources, the Ukrainian-Russian conflict and the energy policy of the European Union, the assessments and forecasts of the energy security of European countries are interesting. Apart from Norway and Denmark, which are in the top rankings, Russia (7-11 places), the United Kingdom (8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and Poland (10)(11)(12) are the best in this respect. While the highest positions of Poland and the United Kingdom among European countries can be considered a good result, the position of Russia is relatively low, taking into account the energy resources at its disposal.…”

“…On the other hand, Norway is characterized by the greatest volatility, occupying positions 1 to 6 in individual rankings. Russia and Mexico (7)(8)(9)(10)(11), the United Kingdom (8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and the Netherlands (16-20) also experience volatility with their positions in the rankings changing by 5 places. The stability chart of the rankings is shown in Figure 2.…”

“…The social issue is certainly the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative economic consequences associated with it, caused by, for example, lockdowns, occurring mainly in the initial period of the pandemic. The pandemic has caused drastic fluctuations in energy demand, oil price shocks, disruptions in energy supply chains and has hampered energy investment [11]. As for the environmental issues, the global concern about the environmental and climatic consequences of energy production and consumption has a big impact on energy security [12].…”

Return of Coal: A Short Visit or a Long Stay?

“…Price spikes and supply chain disruptions affected all energy markets (Zakeri et al, 2022). The period of instability in commodity markets continued with the increased production in OPEC+ countries, accompanied by shrinking oil prices in March 2020, the energy crisis in Europe in 2021 and geopolitical tensions in 2022.…”

Techno-economic Analysis of Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Healthcare Centre in Northwest Bangladesh

“…The level of action varies from country to country, and countries have their own views on how persistently ventilation is completed (Salvia et al 2019 ). In many nations around the world, renewable energy already accounts for more than 20% of the power delivered, and a list of countries have already taken some serious actions to generate 100% of their required power from renewable energy sources by 2050 (Guerra et al 2022 ), (Zakeri et al 2022 ), (Ram et al 2022 ). Renewable electricity markets are projected to grow strongly in the coming decade and beyond.…”