It’s been obvious for months that a global energy crisis was coming. Then last Monday, just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, the chief executive of Shell predicted that Europe is headed for a multi-winter energy crisis, with consequences that cascade around the world.
The situation is drawing attention to humanity’s intensive reliance on energy. In the Financial Times, economics writer Philip Cogan said that, despite an extensive programme of renewable energy production called energiewende, the share of fossil fuels in Germany’s primary energy supply has only declined from about 84 per cent in 2020 to 78 per cent today. It’s the same story everywhere.
