https://archive.md/voAIj
"This was supposed to be a winter of energy crisis in Europe. Beginning last
spring, not long after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the fear of gas
shortages spread across the continent, along with fears of what might follow.
The coming winter crunch was compared to wartime, with energy experts less
focused on whether it would bring rationing than how much. Others suggested
that spectacular price spikes would mean suspensions of energy markets and that
the continent as a whole would experience not a “cost of living crisis” but a
crisis of “molecules” — in which there wasn’t enough energy to be had, no
matter the price. A recession was simply taken for granted among the
commentariat — almost like a badge of honor demonstrating the moral valor of
standing up to Vladimir Putin.
Europe as a whole has indeed endured a lot through the cold months: dramatic
spikes in energy prices, with wholesale prices for electricity and gas growing
as much as 15-fold, often accompanied by similar spikes in government relief.
Countries from Germany to Denmark and Italy spent more than 5 percent of G.D.P.
to shield citizens from the crunch, enacting public conservation measures that
darkened city streets and limited power use in other ways. In Britain, average
bills were expected to grow by 80 percent before the government artificially
lowered the average annual household energy bill to about $3,000. Across the
continent, people turned their thermostats down and snuggled with hot water
bottles at night. Industry was dialed back in places but also often found
alternative power supplies.
All told, though, the worst has not come to pass. There were no blackouts, as
experts were warning as recently as December. There was no significant
mortality from the cold. Industrial production took some hits but didn’t
disappear, and indeed, economic forecasters who were six months ago almost
unanimously predicting a continentwide recession are now almost unanimously
predicting ongoing, if limited, economic growth. There are still worries about
whether next winter will prove as manageable as this one, but natural gas
storage levels have remained high for months, and gas prices have now fallen
back to where they were in September of 2021, several months before the
invasion.
What is perhaps most remarkable is that the European Union has not just managed
to avert a crisis but has actually “turbocharged the green transition,” as
The
Economist recently put it, potentially enough to knock a full decade off the
continent’s decarbonization timeline."
Via
Future Crunch:
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-human-rights-spain/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
