“Big Energy Bazaar”: an investigation into the impending chaos

“This energy crisis is even more serious than the crisis of the 1970s.” This brief sentence is spoken not by an environmental activist or a politician in need of a punchline, but by Fatih Birol. The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, a distinguished figure recognized throughout the world, makes this confession to our correspondent Erwan Benezet in a book to be published this Wednesday. Responsible for energy issues in the editorial office of Le Parisien. Today in France he publishes The Grand Bazaar of Energy (304 pp., Ed. Artaud, 21 euros).

Its starting point is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In addition to the fear of renewed war on the Old Continent, it reignited fears—well-founded—that we thought had disappeared in our consumer society: a lack of gas to feed ourselves, electricity to keep ourselves warm. It was a close call.

In his year-long investigation, Erwan Benezet methodically demonstrates that this unprecedented crisis was in fact a large tank of gasoline that required only a match to explode. And it was Vladimir Putin who scratched him. The war waged by the autocrat showed European citizens overnight how their leaders had slowly but surely made them dependent on Russian gas and oil for the sake of convenience, despite geopolitical threats that had loomed for years.

European sustainability

It also exposed obvious shortcomings in our electricity production. And, above all, the poor state of French nuclear power plants, unable to cover our needs last winter. Never saw. There is no envy, everyone is responsible. First of all, French governments on all sides, which for twenty years have pursued energy policy based on ideological rather than technological convictions. Then Europe, which created a crippled electricity market, had to cut prices when they rose and even exploded in recent months. Finally, successive EDF leaders who played with the rules to maximize their profits, to the detriment of consumers.

But this crisis may have ended up being a blessing in disguise. In the midst of the storm, Europe showed resilience: 27 countries agreed in the blink of an eye to find new routes for gas and oil, although few would bet a ruble on their success. In France, the executive branch has finally given clear guidance for the nuclear industry over the next twenty years and decided to invest permanently in renewable energy sources. And we citizens have now realized that energy is a precious commodity and that we must reconsider our way of life.

The fact remains that, as Erwan Benezet rightly writes, preventing blackouts or fuel shortages is disproportionate to the real chaos that threatens us: global warming. There is no longer a choice; we must abandon hydrocarbons, even though our energy needs will continue to grow. A much more serious task.