Opinion: Fracking, nuclear and research are Europe's best energy bets | Financial Post - March 2022 |

We must invest in sensible alternatives to Russian oil and gas, not engage in wishful thinking about renewable energy

Second, we have been sold a largely untrue story that renewables can give us energy independence. Campaigners and governments have promoted the idea that renewables could replace fossil fuels and still provide cheap, abundant and reliable energy, which would --crucially -- deliver energy security while solving the challenge of global warming. The Russian invasion has exploded this myth and revealed it as nothing more than wishful thinking --especially for the European Union.

For decades, the EU has claimed that renewables can deliver energy security because their energy can be produced at home and does not need to be imported. But the key renewables, solar and wind, are unreliable: they only work when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. To achieve reliable power 24/7, solar and wind need back-up provided by gas. Thus, the EU's green energy policy contributes to its paying Russia over half a billion dollars every day, mostly for fossil fuels, especially gas, to provide a backstop for European solar and wind.

Electricity makes up just a 20% of Europe's overall energy consumption, nearly three-quarters of which is met by gas and other fossil fuels. Despite the hype, solar and wind deliver less than four per cent of Europe's total energy. When German Chancellor Scholz insists renewables will make Germany "independent and less susceptible to blackmail" he is missing the point, because inefficient solar and wind don't keep homes warm. Electricity only delivers a tiny part of heating, with gas providing almost 40 per cent.

Global fossil-fuel consumption subsidies were down in 2020, but they are far from out, rebounding to $440 billion in 2021

US foreign policy still build around the fossil fuel lobby, after destruction in continental America, its sights are set on a weakened Europe. Thanking Joe Biden.

'Sapere aude'