According to US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s opening remarks at this week’s US-EU Energy Council Ministerial, renewable energy has the potential to be the greatest peace strategy in history.
“No country has ever been kept hostage for the sake of having access to the sun,” Granholm said, referring to her Irish colleague Eamon Ryan. “The wind has never held a country hostage.” “This is more than just an energy and climate crisis; it may be the greatest peace strategy ever created, to be able to build energy independence via clean energy,” she said.
“So, the sooner we proceed, the sooner we conclude the clean energy transition,” Granholm said, adding, “the sooner we’ll be able to provide more affordable energy, more diverse energy, more reliable power, true energy independence, and hence security.”
The transition to a low-carbon economy is a primary priority for the Biden administration, which has proposed spending billions of dollars on increased wind and solar generating generation, as well as electric vehicles, oilprice.com writes.
Meanwhile, as tensions between the West and Russia have escalated in reaction to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the issue of energy security has pushed to the fore. Although Russia has offered no indications or hints that it may cease gas supplies to Europe, the latter is looking for other sources of the commodity in the event that the situation deteriorates to its disadvantage.
Unfortunately, the world’s other major gas producers, such as Qatar, Australia, and the United States, have already committed to long-term contracts for the bulk of their volumes, highlighting the need of energy security.
According to a joint statement made after the US-EU Energy Council meeting, “the United States and the EU both reiterated their commitment to attaining net-zero emissions by 2050, as well as to stimulate additional investments in related technologies.” “As a consequence, the Council emphasized the critical need to phase out uncontrolled coal for power generation, as well as unsustainable fossil fuel subsidies.”