Europe’s BIGGEST Energy Crisis is HERE: How Did This Happen?!

Europe could be heading into a really Cold winter One that could see consumers forced to Conserve energy use or at the worst the Rationing of energy The european energy crisis could come to A head this year but it has been years In the making A collection of serious strategic errors Have left citizens across the continent In a vulnerable position So how did we get here and where could We be heading that’s exactly what i’ll Be exploring in my latest video this is One you do not want to miss [Music] Now europe may be about to freeze but we Need a disclaimer before we can proceed So although i always aim to please Financial advice is not something you’ll Get from me speak to a financial advisor If your finances are on a losing streak If you’re wondering who this poet is my Name is guy and ikbin krypto koenig i Also cover all sorts of financial goings On If you’d like to hear more from this Multilingual fella premie cal posante Discriccione a puri que la campanella Ok no hablo otros idiomas so let’s see Why europe could soon be on its ass There are many reasons as to why europe Is facing an energy crisis however one Of the primary reasons is because of the

Rushed attempt to phase out particular Methods of power generation without Having reliable sources of sustainable Energy to fall back on One of the most pertinent examples of This has been the move to curtail or Eliminate nuclear power from the Continent Contrary to popular opinion this is not A new phenomenon it all dates back to an Environmental movement that emerged During the cold war one that was Increasingly skeptical of nuclear power And wanted it to be abolished for Example austria rejected the notion of Nuclear power way back in a 1978 Referendum Other countries like germany italy Denmark sweden and spain have been Similarly skeptical in the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986 this Anti-nuclear rhetoric found a new Impetus and numerous political parties Emerged with the express purpose of Eliminating nuclear power on the Continent and since the end of the cold War a number of countries have been Rapidly decommissioning their nuclear Plants For example in 2000 then german Chancellor gerhard schroeder reached an Agreement with all the energy providers In the country to phase out nuclear Power entirely

When angela merkel took over she was Initially against schroeder’s move However if there was any impartiality in The european debate over nuclear power It was completely eliminated following The fukushima incident in 2011. Fukushima reinforced in people’s minds The dangers posed by the possibility of A nuclear meltdown And with this leaders like merkel Decided that they would accelerate the Move away from nuclear power The hope was that the energy gap would Soon be filled by other renewable energy Sources and any shortfalls could be met By burning gas Of course this has not been universal Across europe some countries such as France and hungary continued to invest In nuclear energy But by and large the continent as a Whole became less and less dependent on Nuclear power This was in tandem with the green energy Revolution which saw alternative sources Of power such as wind hydro and solar Start to take hold across the continent This further reinforced the belief that Countries could completely divorce Themselves from all forms of dirty Energy nuclear included But there were a few problems and Inconsistencies here so let’s take a Look at some of them

Firstly there’s the broader question of Whether nuclear power really is Environmentally unfriendly Factually it’s perhaps one of the Cleanest energy sources out there for One it’s zero emission there’s no Burning that takes place to generate Power it’s nuclear fission that powers Steam turbines to generate electricity Over in the u.s 2020 saw Million metric tons of greenhouse gas Emissions avoided due to the use of Nuclear power This reduction is more than all other Sources of energy combined So less emissions better air quality This is part of the reason why china has Been so keen on expanding its nuclear Power production Then the footprint of nuclear power Stations is small for example a typical 1 000 megawatt facility in the u.s Requires less than one square mile to Operate An equivalent solar plant would require 75 times that and a wind farm over 360 Times the space Now of course the biggest concern for Environmentalists is nuclear waste it Can last for up to 100 000 years and Nobody wants that stuff buried anywhere Near them But it’s important to note that nuclear Waste is incredibly dense this means

That the volume of waste from nuclear Power is minimal For example by some estimates all of the Used nuclear fuel from the past 60 years In the u.s could fit into a football Field with a depth of less than 10 yards Having said that this doesn’t mean there Aren’t risks fukushima did happen so did Chernobyl and three mile island came Close to being a catastrophe of a Similar scale These admittedly high risks are why many People are so averse to nuclear power The prospects of a nuclear fallout are a Lot more concerning to people than the Longer term environmental benefits of Not burning fossil fuels Yet from a statistical perspective Nuclear disasters are incredibly rare But let’s put aside the question of Nuclear power it’s clearly a touchy Subject the broader question comes down To the reliability of alternative Sources and the speed with which new Sources of supply can be built Let’s look into the reliability question Last year in the midst of the Post-pandemic bounce back in europe wind Power stations were a less than reliable Source of power that’s because of Well a lack of wind Wind speeds were milder last year For example in germany the country with The most installed wind capacity onshore

And offshore wind power capacity fell Around 16 year-to-date in december last Year You can see what that looks like over Here This is part of a broader problem with Natural sources of energy they are Completely dependent on mother nature And sometimes when you need the power The wind may not be blowing and the sun May not be shining Batteries can only store so much According to philip walsh of ryerson University in this newsweek article Quote renewables such as wind and solar Are intermittent subject to the Prevailing wind and solar conditions That can fluctuate greatly throughout The day they are the least reliable Source when it comes to meeting Electricity demand Now the other issue that i mentioned a Moment ago is the question of how Quickly these alternative sources of Energy can be built That’s because they’re constrained by The availability of the raw materials Required to build the necessary hardware Key materials such as copper lithium Cobalt and nickel are essential for the Construction of solar panels and wind Turbines The european union has found that in Order to target zero net emissions by

2050 it would need to increase its Consumption of the following materials By 35 percent more copper and aluminium 45 more silicon 100 more nickel 330 more cobalt 35 times more lithium and 26 times more Rare earth elements Now not only are there questions around The environmental impact of mining these Materials but in case you haven’t Noticed we have been having some pretty Severe supply chain disruptions over the Past two years more about that in the Description What that means is that it will be hard For european countries to install all The required capacity in the near term Moreover given that the eu has to import A lot of these materials it means that They will have to be beholden to yet More countries for their energy demands In the future for example one of the Largest nickel and aluminium producing Countries in the world is You’ve guessed it russia a country that The eu doesn’t have the best Relationship with at the moment What this all means is that europe has Not been able to match the demand for Energy with additional renewable supply Similarly because they’ve been Decommissioning nuclear plants this Means that they have had to supplement

The power supply from other sources and The go-to energy source in times of need Has become natural gas What was initially meant to be an aid Has slowly become a crutch that the Continent has been using Moreover given that europe didn’t view Natural gas as part of its long-term Sustainability plans it has been Under-investing in the infrastructure Required to extract it The consonant has had to rely on imports Of gas either from overseas in liquid Form or piped in from the big bad bear Over to the east This dependence on natural gas started Creating problems for europe long before Russia’s invasion of ukraine so Let’s take a look at how There were a number of factors which Came together last year in a perfect Storm for european energy demand Firstly demand itself was surging that’s Because the continent had just emerged From lockdown and this was driving both Industry and consumer demand for energy But perhaps the bigger issue here was The limited supply of natural gas Europe relied on imports either from Russia or as liquid natural gas lng from Overseas The latter was constrained by a lack of Supply and by competition from elsewhere European countries were not the only

Ones driving the demand for lng Countries such as china and india had Become big rivals for the lng supply Coming from the united states and qatar According to henning gloistein at Eurasia group quote every year china Connects up to 15 million homes in its Coastal cities to the gas grid that’s Like adding a netherlands and a belgium Worth of demand every year And given that they didn’t plan to rely On gas for a long time the contracts That european countries have struck are Shorter term in nature The problem with this is twofold One it’s more expensive and two the Exporters prefer satisfying their longer Term customers those in the east for Example To add insult to injury any relief that Europe thought it might get from russian Gas imports was short-lived That’s because putin has been playing Politics with european exports for a Long time Last year russia was accused of Weaponizing these imports as a way to Get nordstrom 2 approved There were also claims last year that Russia was holding back supply on the Existing gas lines the argument being That the resulting high prices were the Reason that nordstream 2 needed to be Approved

This confluence of factors drove European gas prices to some pretty Unprecedented levels they shot up by More than 800 If you were based in europe then you Would have felt this impact with higher Utility bills the choice was simple pay Up or freeze This of course helped to drive inflation Across the continent to unprecedented Levels Despite going through that though Germany decided to shut down half of its Remaining six nuclear plants at the Beginning of this year I mean if worse came to worst they could Always just approve nordstrom too Yes russian gas was pricey but it’s not Like russia would ever cut those Supplies Right Well in case you’ve been living under a Rock recently you will have known that Russia invaded ukraine earlier this year And with this invasion came a host of Implications for europe and beyond Even before russia sent its tanks into Ukraine it appeared as if nordstrom 2 Was dead But when the invasion actually took Place western government started rolling Out some pretty unprecedented sanctions Sanctions that targeted a number of key Russian exports covered in this video

Which i’ll also leave linked to below Of course these sanctions excluded Russian gas for the longest possible Time European leaders knew that they were Between a rock and a hard place For months there was a great deal of Disagreement about whether european Countries really could afford to place Sanctions on russian energy imports Russia of course knew this and used it To its full advantage Firstly in order to hit back at the Sanctions imposed on the russian central Bank putin demanded that gas buyers pay In rubles Apparently there were some companies That yielded to the pressure and opened Accounts at gazprom bank However for those countries like poland And bulgaria that refused gas supplies Were unceremoniously cut Meanwhile russia kept supplying its Biggest buyers in europe and they kept On buying albeit reluctantly That was until june this year when Volumes that were coming out of Nordstrom 1 started to take a tumble Russia blamed this on the fact that it Didn’t have a key component that was Being held in montreal however there Were many who viewed this as part of a Broader strategy by moscow The prospect of russia turning off the

Taps to its biggest buyers became a Reality According to dr fatih birol the head of The international energy agency the cuts Appear to be a strategic move by moscow That would remind europe that it should Not feel quote too safe or too Comfortable Chilling literally and figuratively Now i should add that nordstream 1 Started undergoing its annual Maintenance yesterday This is leading to a 10-day suspension Of gas coming through the pipeline Some in europe fear that putin will use The scheduled maintenance program to Turn the screws putting a break on Efforts to refill inventories There are open questions now as to Whether gas will ever flow through Nordstrom again As if by cruel coincidence this also Comes at a time when one of the us’s key Terminals to liquefy gas suffered an Explosion This meant that it had to pause Operations for three months The facility in texas was responsible For a full 20 of all liquefaction Capacity in the u.s The combination of the reduction in Russian gas and the collapse of lng Imports sent gas prices in europe Skyrocketing you can see what that looks

Like from the perspective of energy Prices in a country like germany for Example These prices are above those that were Reached in december last year a time When we were in the depths of winter i Might add so This leaves europe in a precarious Position at the mercy of the markets With its energy security in the hands of A geopolitical rival The net result of this has been panic Among european governments for example In germany the minister of economics Robert harbeck has said that the energy Crisis could trigger a quote layman Effect and that quote the situation is Serious and winter will come According to an emergency plan in Germany the second stage of it will Allow gas utilities to pass on the Additional cost of these gas prices to Customers So higher prices for consumers and more Inflation of course The third stage of germany’s emergency Energy plan is that of gas rationing Although habek says that this shouldn’t Happen quote of course i can’t rule it Out And it’s not only germany that has these Fears in france a country that still has A large nuclear power industry they are Also worried about the impact of gas

Shortages the energy giants in the Country have said that consumers should Immediately reduce consumption of fuel Oil electricity and gas Quote the effort must be immediate Collective and massive The french government is even preparing For a potential complete cutoff of Russian gas supplies So dire is the need for energy in these Times that the european parliament has Actually voted to reclassify natural gas And nuclear as environmentally friendly And i’m not joking It just goes to show that science can Change when the prospect of freezing to Death is on the cards But if that sounds dubious to you then The move to restart coal-fired power Plants in this energy crunch should be The most dire sign yet that Environmental concerns have gone out of The window While being quick to start up coal is Perhaps one of the dirtiest sources of Energy out there desperate times call For desperate measures it seems But the broader question is were these Desperate times not only foreseeable Also avoidable Time for a few closing thoughts here It’s pretty clear that europe’s energy Crisis has been decades in the making While i agree that the goal of zero

Emission energy is a good long-term Target it has to be achieved in a Sustainable practical way Mothballing all nuclear power plants and Filling the gap with imported gas must Rank as one of the biggest strategic Mistakes of the past decade even if you Disagree with the notion that it is a Clean energy source you can’t claim that Outsourcing energy independence is a Worthwhile sacrifice to eliminate Nuclear power Part of the reason why europe has found It so hard to economically respond to Russia is because of how reliant it is On that energy Putin knows this and sees it as the Ultimate bargaining chip The high energy prices and general Inflation are now leading to a great Deal of pain for the average european Citizen People who had no hand in energy policy Nor the way their governments responded To russia Now that the energy situation has become So dire countries are beginning to talk About the prospect of rationing if That’s the narrative now at the peak of Summer one has to wonder what could Happen when the weather starts getting Colder It’s because of this that they are now Doing the unthinkable restarting coal

Power stations and pumping yet more co2 Into the atmosphere the other problem With this is that the eu is going to Have to source some coal to power those Plants So let’s hope it won’t be coming from a Country that also intends to hold them Hostage And that’s it for my video today folks But i’m keen for some of your feedback Though so what are your views on the European energy crisis do any european Citizens want to opine on my analysis What are energy bills looking like for You folks leave your comments down below And while you’re down there you Absolutely have to check out my socials Page This has links to all the other places That you can follow me off the tube These include the following My telegram channel where i share market Analysis and views Twitter where i share news and other Tips instagram and tick tock for behind The scenes views and memes And my email newsletter where i share a Breakdown of my personal portfolio as Well as a breakdown of some upcoming Videos Also if you’re looking for some of the Best discounts and promos in the space Then touch base with my deals page Discounts that only viewers of this

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