Here Is the Thing About Energy
Say no to Vladimir and yes to the Sun
“If Russia is disconnected from SWIFT, then we will not receive currency, but buyers, European countries in the first place, will not receive our oil, gas (…).”
This sentence by Nikolay Zhuravlev, Vice Speaker of the Kreml, shook Europeans to their bones. Why?
Because Russia is the biggest supplier of natural gas and oil for Europe. A disruption in energy supply would cause a severe problem. Not just for the economy facing production interruptions. Just think about how dependent you — yes you — personally are on fossil fuels.
Addicted
Fossil fuels heat your butt at home, drive you everywhere, allow you to spend your vacation in Egypt, built your house, and even produce the food you eat. When world energy expert Vaclav Smil has been asked “what’s the most important technology”, he answered: the Haber-Bosch process. The what? The Haber Bosch process. It’s the process that converts hydrogen & nitrogen to ammonia aka fertilizer. With the availability of fertilizers, yields from agriculture increased rapidly in a short time. Without that process, life would not exist as we know it. And where does the necessary hydrogen for the process come from? You’re right, natural gas.
We are dependent — not to say addicted — on fossil fuels. And conflict number 3,001 between “The West” and Russia is showing us once more our ultimate vulnerability.
Here is the thing: If we are cut off from fossil fuels for just a short period of time, life literately stops. And not being able to recharge your phone is the smallest problem you would have. Just imagine what you would do without your major external energy source. And if you cannot, then I recommend you the beautiful Thriller Blackout by Marc Elsberg.
So we are dependent on fossil fuels coming from autocratic countries like Russia & Saudi Arabia. So what? They need our money, right? They need to sell to keep their systems alive. They will not stop the delivery. Yes, maybe. I will not bring the argument of “eventually, we are running out of oil and gas”, because it has been excessively used in the last century, that no one will believe it anymore. Technology has always been able to bring us more of the black gold. The last time energy prices went through the roof in 2011, we came up with Fracking, problemo solved (if we ignore the fact that we are shooting a chemical cocktail with high pressure into our own water supply). But are we eventually running out of fossil fuels? If there is no secret Nord Stream 3 plugged into Earth by the Russians, then yes. When it will happen, nobody knows. But even Big Oil has now understood it. BP estimates we will run out of gas and oil in 50 years. And when an Oil Giant like Shell publicly states that its new goal is to become “a net-zero emissions business offering customers more low-carbon products, from renewable electricity to hydrogen”, we understand that relying on fossil fuels is a bad — a really bad — idea.
Time
Now, we have 50 years left… That gives us enough time to … WHAT? WE DO NOT? WHY? Because burning fossil fuels causes another problem: it radicalizes our climate, causing problems to our ecosystems, food supply, and health. Not just a bad idea, but a problem that hits in much earlier than 50 years from now. It started already and will continue to accelerate if we fail to respond quickly. Scientists say we need to reach zero emissions — meaning no more burning of fossil fuels — in 2050 at the latest. That is less than 28 years from now. Very little time to change a system that literally is the building block for our modern world.
To summarize the above in one (long) sentence: Fossil fuels are amazing because they allow us to live the life we enjoy today but they are more of a problem now than a blessing and we have technologies that are cleaner and rely on the strongest force in our planetary system: the Sun.
How cool is that? And for our nerds reading this: At any moment, the sun emits about 3.86 x 10²⁶ watts of energy. So add 24 zeros to the end of that number, and you’ll get an idea of how great the Sun is. In less than 8 hours, enough sunlight hits the Earth to meet all of humanity’s energy needs for a year.
We love you Sun.
Choices
Maybe it’s better to ask: What can I do? Because when we say WE, what we actually mean is THEY. What can THEY do? And THEY, that is usually the government or someone “above” me with “more” power. But the truth is that you and I can make choices. The choice against the car and for the train or bike (or e-car if you wish). The choice to not heat your apartment to tropical temperatures in winter and wear a nice pullover instead. Or to invest in a heat pump. To buy your electricity from renewable sources. To raise your voice at the next election. To talk to your friends. To use your brain.
To say no to Vladimir and yes to the Sun.
