Fortune is sounding the energy alarm
Tom KirkmanIndependent Project Manager
Fortune . com is sounding the energy alarm.
And ‘Fortune’ is not exactly a radical conspiracy publication.
=================
“Electricity bills have already tripled in many places. Some coffee shops and restaurants have seen monthly bills rise from €2,000 a year ago to €7,000 now, and major industries have started furloughing workers and cutting back on expenses due to high electrical bills.
The situation is so dire that governments that previously renounced fossil fuels and nuclear power are desperately reopening shuttered coal plants and nuclear sites, and nationalizing utility companies to save them from going bankrupt.
But as bad as it is now, these might still be the good days for Europe. With winter and higher gas demand on the way, experts told ‘Fortune’ that Europe’s energy market has never been more vulnerable.
● Even the slightest uptick in energy demand anywhere in the world could push entire sectors of Europe’s manufacturing industry to shut down entirely, devastating European economies with a wave of unemployment, high prices, and in all likelihood public unrest and divisions between European nations.
“Prices are at historically record levels. We have never ever seen anything actually like this,” Tatiana Mitrova, a research fellow with Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told ‘Fortune’. “This will become quite painful.” …
… “We should understand that we are choosing between different bad options, we do not have a good scenario at the moment,” Mitrova said.
Reducing gas demand in Europe either through rationing or high prices could have a prolonged and debilitating effect on Europe’s society, and it’s already having destabilizing consequences for some industries and economies.
● Over 70% of European fertilizer producers—which rely on the ammonia extracted from natural gas production—have already halted operations, according to Mitrova, and soaring energy costs are forcing those European factories and manufacturers to slow down operations. …”