"Turkey and South Korea are discussing the joint construction of a nuclear power plant, the latest of recent efforts by Ankara to diversify its energy sources.
[In addition] state-run energy companies Turkish Petroleum Corp. and Botas are exploring investments in Canadian oil and gas fields.
Ankara is also ramping up oil exploration in the Black Sea, including in a partnership with Shell off the coast of Bulgaria."
"South Korea is considering providing additional energy vouchers to subsidise vulnerable households if rising global fuel prices in the wake of the Middle East crisis push up electricity costs.
Asia's fourth-largest economy is also preparing to boost nuclear and coal-fired power generation in the event that oil prices remain high and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are disrupted."
"Work-from-home orders came back in some countries after years of companies trying to coax workers back to offices after the pandemic, with Vietnam and Thailand reportedly getting employees to work remotely."
I don't know why the article calls this rational strategy "quirky".
By the way: what you hear about now is the reaction of *governments* to the oil price shock.
You will not hear about families - potentially millions - huddling around their kitchen table to see if the family finances allow for buying or leasing rooftop solar -- until one day it becomes a "surprise" story.
This is what happened in Pakistan, which went from "from an inconsequential solar market to the sixth-largest in the world."
See this post and others in the thread:
"Governments including Italy and Hungary are urging Brussels to weaken its climate policies to provide short-term cost relief for industries.
Stiell will warn that doing this would be "completely delusional", according to prepared remarks for an event in Brussels where he will argue the shift to renewable energy means cheaper power and jobs in clean-technology industries."
The International Energy Agency reminding governments of demand-related policy measures, same as the ones used during the 1970s oil crisis.
Reduce highway speed limits;
Encourage public transport;
Alternate private car access to roads in large cities on different days
... and a contemporary one:
Work from home.
UK:
"The guidance published on Tuesday means that from 2028, no new homes will be on the gas network - and will instead be on a heat network or get a heat pump - and they must have solar panels on their roofs covering an area equivalent to 40% of the ground floor space.
It also said plug-in panels that homeowners can self-install on balconies would be available in supermarkets in the coming months."
"Countries that invested in renewable energy in 2022 are better able to withstand the current fuel crisis, experts say.
In 2022, some European governments tried to cut dependence on fossil fuels. But many soon focused on finding new fossil fuel suppliers instead.
Europe’s excess spending on fossil fuels since the Russia-Ukraine War amounted to about 40 per cent of the investment needed to transition its power system to clean energy, according to a 2023 study."
"The rule-of-thumb that what is bad for fossils is good for renewables applies. And the Middle East conflict is definitely bad for oil and gas. It has once again exposed, dramatically, the vulnerability of many countries to oil and gas dependency.
While the present fossil supply shock disproportionately affects Asia, all energy importing countries will suffer, and their motivation to make themselves less dependent on oil and gas imports will rise. "
"On Tuesday, the Philippines became the first country to declare a state of national energy emergency. South Koreans have been advised to take shorter showers and charge their phones during the day to conserve electricity. Japan begins its biggest-ever release of emergency oil reserves this week.
Thai farmer Theerasin told CNN that if the uncertainty over securing fuel continues, he would re-think planting his next crop in May."
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/25/asia/asia-hormuz-energy-austerity-fuel-intl-hnk
"France's Finance Minister Roland Lescure revealed on Wednesday that between 30 and 40 per cent of Gulf refining capacity has been damaged or destroyed by Iran's retaliatory strikes, leaving a shortage of 11 million barrels a day on global oil markets. Lescure warned it could take up to three years to restore damaged facilities, and several months to restart those that were urgently shut down."
France's Finance Minister Roland Lescure revealed on Wednesday that between 30 and 40 per cent of Gulf refining capacity has been damaged or destroyed by Iran's retaliatory strikes, leaving a shortage of 11 million barrels a day on global oil markets. Lescure warned it could take up to three years to restore damaged facilities, and several months to restart those that were urgently shut down.
"Studies suggest that most Southeast Asian countries have enough reserves of oil and LNG to last only 20 to 50 days.
In the wake of recent events, regional leaders are rethinking their attitude toward renewables. Indonesia’s government—not known for moving quickly—is making concerted efforts to speed up solar and geothermal power projects. Construction of new solar and geothermal power plants is slated to begin later this month."
https://www.cfr.org/articles/the-iran-war-is-reshaping-asias-energy-security-strategies
Australia:
"Public transport will be free in Victoria for a month, and in Tasmania until July, in an effort to encourage people to switch from driving and alleviate the surge in demand for fuel."
Would love to see the result of this unintended pilot for free public transit.
"South Korea has already imposed driving restrictions on civil servants, curbing how often they can access government buildings by car based on the last number of their license plates. Expanding restrictions to the private sector would be the first such move since the 1991 Gulf War. It would also signal heightened concern over a looming energy shock for an economy that is a key player in global tech supply chains."
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/03/30/asia-pacific/south-korea-driving-curbs-oil/
"In a bid to quickly lower electricity costs, a growing number of Democratic-governed states are pulling money away from programs to save power and boost renewable energy, often by cutting charges on utility bills or redirecting those funds toward customer rebates."
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/30/democrats-energy-affordability-climate-00848073
"European Union governments should prepare for a prolonged disruption to energy markets as a result of the Iran war, the bloc's energy chief has told ministers ahead of an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
JET FUEL SEEN AS MOST EXPOSED
The last kerosene shipments that passed through the Strait of Hormuz before its closure are due to arrive in Europe around April 10."
"Governments across Asia are ramping up their use of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, as they try to cover huge energy shortfalls triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran.
Almost 30bn cubic meters of LNG has been removed from global supply chains, of which more than 80% is missing in the Indo-Pacific region.
Gloystein added it will take years to recover LNG supplies."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/01/iran-energy-crisis-asia-dirty-fuels-coal
This piece points out that the amount of extra coal being put to use now is small compared to that used on an ongoing basis.
Also there is demand destruction as governments and people conserve energy to save money.
Good interactive showing how East Asia and developing countries reliant on fossil fuel imports are hardest hit, and government policies implemented.
https://www.ft.com/content/a9f56d68-4cdd-47f7-873e-ca6ac0ea8962
This is what demand destruction looks like (besides families making their own decisions).
“We need to learn that this is the moment to break that cycle of responding to short-term fossil fuel induced shocks
with investments in fossil fuels,
because they’re never short-term
– they’re always long-term infrastructure investments of sorts.”
“It’s not sustainable to rely on coal,”
added Dinita Setyawati, senior energy analyst for Asia at thinktank Ember,
who is based in Jakarta.
“Homegrown renewables are definitely the way to go to improve more energy security and resilience.”
Across Asia countries are searching for ways to reduce energy consumption,
with the Philippines and Sri Lanka introducing four-days weeks for many government staff,
and Vietnam encouraging people work from home.
Bangladesh closed its universities early,
bringing forward the Eid al-Fitr holidays,
and has introduced more planned blackouts,
while Pakistan has moved schools to remote online teaching.
Gloystein added it will take years to recover LNG supplies.
“This isn’t a short-term thing
– people hope that next week there will be some form of a climb down or ceasefire
and then we’ll go back to normal,” he said.
“This is going to stay with us for a while
because the damage that has been done,
it’s going to take years to repair.”
It might be not as much as one may hope. Attempts in Germany showed that (almost) free public transport (@9€/Month) in 2022 did only reduce some 3-6% of car trips even in regions with very dense transit. much less in rural areas.
So yes, there might be notable reduction, but not as much as they may hope.
A more interesting result was that over all trips increased way more than just moving those 3-6% from car to busses, trams and trains. People got more mobile, accessing more destinations resulting in notable additional business.
So maybe public transport is a possible the next step to not only decrease CO2 but increase over all economy?
Interesting!
This bears out many studies that say that when people walk places (as you do when you get off the train), you tend to start enjoying yourself, look around more carefully, maybe see something you want to buy, sit down for coffee after a while, all that. Actually the worst for local businesses is people who blow by in their steel boxes on wheels oblivious of what you have to offer.
On reduction:
There's price, and there's carbon emissions.
Oil products have a relatively inelastic demand: People in rural areas still must use their car, trucks must deliver the goods, etc. In such a situation even a small reduction of consumption is enough to bring prices down significantly, even though carbon emissions are not cut by much.
Much depends on how long the war lasts.
This article says the Cabinet will start talking with parliament about possible policies.
Meanwhile, fossil fuel is at €2.50 / liter so that is its own nudge. Suddenly your public transit card starts to look really nice. (American friends, that's nearly $ 10 a gallon)
@CelloMomOnCars This is a theme that plays out over and over, it recently informed policymaking here in Puerto Rico, too: Public utilities perpetuate their fossil fuel based electrical generation at the same time as more-affordable solar equipment becomes available. Those with capital access replace their grid-dependency with rooftop solar, leaving the utility to recover fossil fuel capital investment from an ever-decreasing pool of ever-less-wealthy grid-dependent power users -- a utility "death spiral".
Here in Puerto Rico, the public service commission, under the scrutiny of a congressionally imposed "financial oversight board", has been stuck between a rock and a hard place. They have to take fiscally responsible decisions and they have to avoid the death spiral mode. The vested interests in the traditional grid power delivery systems are having a very difficult time accepting the need to abandon their old power generation and delivery model. The same as everywhere, perhaps.
CelloMom On Cars
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