Mastodawn

Iran war energy crisis is a renewable energy wake-up call

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-wars-renewable-energy-asia-4b5fe0693ce5816472c905db85f7da6e

Iran war energy crisis is a renewable energy wake-up call

The Iran war is exposing how much the global economy still depends on fragile fossil fuel supplies. The conflict has virtually choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. That's shaking up markets and pushing prices higher. Countries reliant on imported fossil fuels — from wealthy industrial economies to poorer developing nations — are facing major disruptions that can quickly ripple through utility bills, food prices, transport costs and electrical grids. Analysts say the crisis is a stark reminder that energy security is not just about stockpiles and shipping, but also about the lagging transition to renewable energy.

AP News

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stavros 6d ago

I don't understand how we're still using fossil fuels. I thought the only thing that would save us from the scourge is if renewables were cheaper, but even with solar being cheaper than everything else, we're still deploying fossil fuels.

Is it because of the interests of fossil fuel companies and their lobbying, or am I missing some economic factor?

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throwaway27448

> I don't understand how we're still using fossil fuels.

These fit an energy niche that can't be replaced with any one thing. China is just now investing in an electric military, for instance. Shipping will remain difficult to electrify entirely (which is surmountable, but certainly not in production). Coal and natural gas plants provide on-demand power that is not straightforward to guarantee with renewable sources. And there are many (likely almost all) grids that are simply not up to the task of transmitting energy that used to be transmitted by physically moving fossil fuels. Air flight has no renewable alternative as of today—though, I suppose we technically do have renewable forms of jet fuel, it's extremely expensive.

& of course we will need byproducts for the forseeable future for fertilizer, materials, chip production, etc etc.

It'll take a couple generations. Of course we should be paying poor countries to not use fossil fuels, but instead we're trying to force switching back to fossil fuels ourselves for no explicable reason (as an american obv).