Analysis: Europe’s gas crisis is also a renewables crisis, but there are ready solutions

Politicians are blaming the surge in prices on an increase in natural gas demand as the world wakes up from the pandemic, supply disruption caused by maintenance, and a less-windy-than-usual summer that saw a drop in wind-generated power. But really, Europe’s crisis is in its renewables sector. The region has invested heavily in renewables, such as wind and solar, but it can’t get enough of this green power to the people who need it.After the Europe has long been a world leader in renewables. Last year, the European Union and United Kingdom used more renewable energy than fossil fuels to generate electricity. But at the same time, the United Kingdom relies on gas for around 40% of its electricity and Europe is expanding and investing heavily in gas. The European Union currently has €87 billion ($102 billion) worth of gas projects in the pipeline, according to Experts say the current energy crisis — exacerbated by a lack of wind in the North Sea this summer — underscores the need for Europe to build more renewable infrastructure in more places, and to diversify its sources. “Part of the answer is to put more windmills up in different places, because the wind will be blowing somewhere,” Paterson said. The United Kingdom could explore more around hydropower and solar energy. “People make the quip about the UK being gray, but you don’t need to know too much about solar cells to know that’s irrelevant. You will get more if it is sunny, but even in Manchester, you’d get plenty of electricity and there’s opportunity for that.”Another part of the answer is focusing on the demand side, not just supply, said Lisa Fischer, who leads the climate think tank E3G’s program on the decarbonization of energy systems.”Europe has been building renewables quickly, and while we could go faster, what has been slow is critical action in cutting energy demand and making it more flexible,” she told CNN Business. In England and Wales, data shows that homes that aren’t newly built are not meeting basic energy efficiency standards. Many older properties have no effective insulation, with single-glazed windows that let too much heat out and cold air in. People also typically heat their homes with gas-fired boilers, though electric heat pumps run on renewables are growing in popularity. “What China has been doing and will likely continue to do, is to export the equipment that is used to produce renewable energy,” said Dominic Chiu, a China analyst with the Albright Stonebridge Group. “China has also been helping countries, such as Pakistan, build solar farms. Energy infrastructure, renewable or otherwise, plays an important role in China’s Belt and Road initiative,” Chiu added.That dynamic means that there is still lots of potential for energy security to get tied up in geopolitical tensions, or other thornier topics.An investigation published in May by the UK’s Sheffield Hallam’s University, for example, found that China was using forced labor from ethnic-minority Uyghurs in the production of solar energy panels. This prompted the United States to impose trade bans on five Chinese entities linked to the abuse. On a recent trip to Tianjin, US climate chief John Kerry said Chinese officials complained about the sanctions, arguing they limited how cooperative China could be with the world on climate. “That is a potential concern that many countries have with China’s polysilicon production,” Chiu said, referring to the material used in the panels. But sanctions haven’t had a huge impact on the industry, Chiu said. Beyond the obvious climate benefits, there is an undeniable political advantage of renewables over fossil fuels such as gas. A country like Russia can cut off supplies for Europe with a flick of a switch, but once a solar panel or windmill is installed, that’s that — no country can take the sun or wind away from another.