the first energy crisis that’s truly global
An article by Aggeliki Doulou (B2), Basilis Karlis (B2)
In 2021 the world was plagued about an upcoming energy crisis, as a result of a variety of factors, such as the pandemic. However, things took a turn for the worst when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. People across the globe face its consequences every day making it the first energy crisis that’s truly global.
An energy crisis (or energy shortage) is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. To begin with, it has been known for years that the supplies of petrol are limited. No matter how much effort has been put into finding a reusable alternative to petrol, as of now no results have been seen. In addition, in today’s world of overpopulation and overconsumption we are bound to use larger amounts of energy than our world has to offer.
Nevertheless, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic dealt a massive blow to the energy field; COVID-19 slows progress towards universal energy access as lockdowns and disruptions to global supply chains have affected the pace of progress toward the Sustainable Development Goal (the plan was for a solution to be found by 2030). Moreover, the final piece of the energy crisis puzzle is the war of Ukraine, because Russia has cut off flow of energy to Europe.
The obvious result is the consistent rise of energy prices. The rise of prices extents to every aspect of our lives, such as food, households and transportation. In fact, since January 2020 food prices have risen by 35% and sovereign bond spread has risen by roughly 20%. What’s more, energy shortage has set a new mindset about transportation; since transportation cost has had exponential growth, people have to __ think about where they might go. Also, social difference has been underlined, as some minorities face that already financial problems have had many more put to their plate.
So, what can we do to suppress this crisis? Apart from what governments can do, we must comply with the new « rules ». We can try to use alternative and carbon neutral transportation methods, like bicycles or electric vehicles and turn to public transportation. We have to limit our needs when it comes to energy consumption.
We can all agree, that our lives have been tied to energy use. However, due to the recent changes to the energy market, we should adapt to it. When we find new ways to produce energy, when our lives will not be impacted by petrol and when time has given us the ability to heal our wounds, we will be able to say that we have survived the first global energy crisis.
From www.iea.org www.wikipedia.com www.who.gr
