This group brings together the best thinkers on energy and climate. Join us for smart, insightful posts and conversations about where the energy industry is and where it is going.

Shared Link

Whisper it, but Europe is winning the energy war with Putin

German Toro Ghio 200,684

CEO, Germán & Co

Germán José Manuel Toro Ghio, son of Germán Alfonso and Jenny Isabel Cristina, became a citizen of planet Earth in the cold dawn of Sunday, May 11, 1958, in Santiago, capital of southern Chile....

Member since 2022
318 items added with 156,582 views

Contact

Profile

Jan 16, 2023Jan 16, 2023 11:03 am GMT
671 views

“For now, things look good,” an EU diplomat agreed. “The Russians only had one weapon in the energy war: gas. It’s a strong weapon, with strong short-term impact. But they’ve used it already." The diplomat said that the EU's "arsenal" was more diverse, including: boosting renewables, getting supplies from elsewhere and taking steps to use less energy. "But we can’t afford to be complacent.”

That is a message echoed across EU capitals.

“It’s Europe 1, Russia 0,” said one EU energy minister — but the contest is far from over. For months now, European leaders have warned that next winter could be more dangerous than this one, with a tight global LNG market and the possibility of a resurgent China, reopening after COVID lockdowns, competing for a limited supply.

Whisper it, but Europe is winning the energy war with Putin

Mild weather, lower consumption and supplies from elsewhere have helped Europe take an advantage.

Source: www.politico.eu

Discussions

Sign in to Participate

Matt Chester on Jan 16, 2023

It’s a strong weapon, with strong short-term impact. But they’ve used it already."

This is the key point. If Europe manages the winter and sets itself well to do so in future winters, all of a sudden the tools at Russia's disposal are that much weaker

German Toro Ghio on Jan 20, 2023

Perhaps one of the most important transformations of the week

—Chancellor Olaf Scholz, caught between radical environmentalists on one hand and pressure from Ukraine for Leopard heavy tanks on the other, sought to distance himself from the fray. The only head of state of a G7 country to have made the trip to Switzerland this year, he detailed his battle plan to make his country the world leader in the fight against climate change even while restoring its industrial competitiveness. He presented the strategy in martial terms.

"Most importantly, our transformation toward a climate-neutral economy – the fundamental task of our century – is currently taking on an entirely new dynamic," the chancellor said. "Not in spite of, but because of the Russian war and the resulting pressure on us Europeans to change." As proof of his country's dynamism and of Russian President Vladimir Putin's failure, he emphasized that Germany, which had been dependent on Russian gas supplies in the run-up to the offensive, had managed to become almost completely free of them in less than a year.

On Le Monde Today

German Toro Ghio on Jan 16, 2023

A logical and profound reflection Matt...

Jim Stack on Jan 17, 2023

This will not end well. QUOTE=possibility of a resurgent China, reopening after COVID lockdowns, competing for a limited supply.

German Toro Ghio on Jan 17, 2023

A very uncertain future to decipher...

—Perhaps the cruellest change that mankind has undergone because of the Coronavirus is in our affective behaviour. This tiny little creature awakened in us the paranoia of fear and undoubtedly, in a very mean way, let us know, and indeed it did, that being in the company of other individuals of our own species, by then already submerged by the sophistic evolution of the world 2.0, where genuine expressions of affection, handshakes and hugs... that do so much good to the intangible of the so-called soul, have been replaced by immaterial faces that flow at an infinite density (billions) per second, devoid of any merciful human contact, would cause us to die. What cruelty we have been subjected to. Perhaps the most devastating alteration to human nature brought on by the Coronavirus is the way we express our emotions. Being around other members of our own species, by that point already submerged by the sophistic evolution of the world 2.0, where genuine expressions of affection, handshakes, and hugs... that do so much good to the intangible of the so-called soul, have been replaced by immaterial faces that flow at an infinite density (billions per second), awoke in us the paranoia of fear and undoubtedly, in a very mean way, let us know, and indeed it did. What horrible brutality we have endured. Where are all the people, we love who are supposed to be here with us? And it all seems to have started with a simple case of human mistake in a laboratory in ancient China's Wuhan region.

Even the great science fiction writer James Graham Ballard (JG Ballard, Shanghai, British International Treaty 1930-London, UK 2009) couldn't have failed to foresee the future consequences for the human colony living on the small, distant, and sick planet we call Earth in his 1964 short storey The Drought. How many loved ones are not by our side today? And all because of a supposed human error in some laboratory in the remote province of Wuhan in millenary China...

Not even in the mind of that genius of science fiction storytelling, James Graham Ballard (JG Ballard, Shanghai, British International Treaty 1930-London, UK 2009) in his short story The Drought (1964), did he fail to visualise what would affect in the future the colony of individuals inhabiting a small, remote, and sick planet, called: Earth.

As a result of the widespread Covid lockdowns and a subsequent fatal outbreak in December, China's economy suffered one of its worst performances in decades in 2018.

Numbers published on Tuesday reveal that China's annual growth was 3%, much lower than in 2021 and far below Beijing's aim of 5.5 %. It was the worst performance since the GDP dropped 1.6% in 1976, the year Mao Zedong died.

Even worse for the Chinese people, who could never have imagined a more perfect and cruel combination than the millions of victims of the pandemic and, at the same time, the country's declining birth rate, which was once public policy.

Thank German for the Post!

Energy Central contributors share their experience and insights for the benefit of other Members (like you). Please show them your appreciation by leaving a comment, 'liking' this post, or following this Member.

Follow Profile

Get Published - Build a Following

The Energy Central Power Industry Network® is based on one core idea - power industry professionals helping each other and advancing the industry by sharing and learning from each other.

If you have an experience or insight to share or have learned something from a conference or seminar, your peers and colleagues on Energy Central want to hear about it. It's also easy to share a link to an article you've liked or an industry resource that you think would be helpful.

Start a Post » Learn more about posting on Energy Central »