{"id":465439,"date":"2022-06-20T00:24:16","date_gmt":"2022-06-19T21:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/fossil-fuel-price-spikes-are-causing-pain-but-little-climate-payoff\/"},"modified":"2022-06-20T00:24:16","modified_gmt":"2022-06-19T21:24:16","slug":"fossil-fuel-price-spikes-are-causing-pain-but-little-climate-payoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/fossil-fuel-price-spikes-are-causing-pain-but-little-climate-payoff\/","title":{"rendered":"#Fossil-fuel price spikes are causing pain but little climate payoff"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4140f2f1dba\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4140f2f1dba\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/fossil-fuel-price-spikes-are-causing-pain-but-little-climate-payoff\/#%E2%80%9CFossil-fuel_price_spikes_are_causing_pain_but_little_climate_payoff%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Fossil-fuel price spikes are causing pain but little climate payoff&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CFossil-fuel_price_spikes_are_causing_pain_but_little_climate_payoff%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Fossil-fuel price spikes are causing pain but little climate payoff&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>For three decades, climate campaigners have fought to make fossil fuels so expensive that people would be forced to abandon them. Their dream is becoming reality: Energy prices are spiraling out of control and will soon get even worse. Yet we are no closer to solving climate change.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/stats.oecd.org\/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=PRICES_CPI\">Energy costs increased\u00a026%<\/a>\u00a0across industrialized economies last year and will rise globally by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/news\/press-release\/2022\/04\/26\/food-and-energy-price-shocks-from-ukraine-war\">another 50%<\/a>\u00a0this year. While Western governments are blaming Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine, prices were already rising because of climate policies designed to\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/n10Oi\">choke fossil-fuel investment<\/a>. Since the 2015 Paris agreement was inked, the world\u2019s 1,200 biggest energy corporations have slashed capital investment in oil and gas\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/privatebank.jpmorgan.com\/content\/dam\/jpm-wm-aem\/global\/pb\/en\/insights\/eye-on-the-market\/2022-energy-paper\/elephants-in-the-room.pdf\">by more than two-thirds<\/a>. Huge price rises are the inevitable result of forcing more energy out of an increasingly starved system.<\/p>\n<p>The climate-policy <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach of trying to push consumers and businesses away from fossil fuels with price spikes is causing pain with little climate payoff, for two reasons.<\/p>\n<p>First, solar and wind are still only capable of meeting a fraction of global electricity needs. Even with huge subsidies and political support, solar and wind delivered just\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/world-energy-outlook-2021\">9% of global electricity in 2020<\/a>. Heating, transport and vital industrial processes account for much more energy use than electricity. This means solar and wind deliver just\u00a01.8%\u00a0of global energy supply.\u00a0And electricity is the easiest of these components to decarbonize: We\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10640-022-00647-4\">haven\u2019t yet made meaningful progress greening<\/a> the remaining four-fifths of global energy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ukraine-war-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22709974\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ukraine-war-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ukraine-war-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/ukraine-war-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Western countries blame rising energy prices on the Ukraine war, but they were already rising prior. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Second, even in the rich parts of the world it is clear few people are willing to pay the phenomenal price of achieving net-zero carbon emissions. Soaring prices are hiking energy poverty in industrialized economies, and prices are set to climb even further. Germany is on track to spend\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welt.de\/wirtschaft\/article158668152\/Energiewende-kostet-die-Buerger-520-000-000-000-Euro-erstmal.html\">more than a half-trillion dollars<\/a>\u00a0on climate policies by 2025 yet has only managed to reduce fossil-fuel dependency\u00a0from 84% in 2000 to 77%\u00a0today.\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/business-functions\/sustainability\/our-insights\/the-economic-transformation-what-would-change-in-the-net-zero-transition\">McKinsey estimates <\/a>getting to zero carbon will cost Europe 5.3% of its GDP in low-emission assets every year \u2014 for Germany,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/295444\/germany-gross-domestic-product\">more than $200 billion<\/a>\u00a0annually. That\u2019s more than Germany spends annually on education and police, courts and prisons combined.<\/p>\n<p>Western leaders can\u2019t continue to push expensive policies without a backlash. As energy prices soar, risks grow of resentment and strife, like France saw with the \u201cyellow vest\u201d protest movement.<\/p>\n<p>For the poorest billions, rising energy prices are even more serious because they block the pathway out of poverty and make fertilizer unaffordable for farmers, imperiling food production. The well-off in rich countries might be able to withstand the pain of some climate policies, but emerging economies like India or low-income countries in Africa cannot afford to sacrifice poverty eradication and economic development to tackle climate change.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/renewable-energy.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Wind and Solar Power\" class=\"wp-image-22709991\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/renewable-energy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/renewable-energy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/renewable-energy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Wind and solar can only meet a small portion of the world\u2019s electricity needs. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">dpa\/picture alliance via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Globally, the inability of green energy to compete means the world is on track to remain fossil-fuel dependent. Analyzing all current and promised climate policies, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/data-and-statistics\/data-product\/world-energy-outlook-2021-free-dataset\">the International Energy Agency<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/data-and-statistics\/data-product\/world-energy-outlook-2021-free-dataset\">finds<\/a>\u00a0fossil fuels will still provide two-thirds of global energy use by 2050, only a modest drop from 79% today.<\/p>\n<p>And green energy\u2019s failings are why <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/news\/global-co2-emissions-rebounded-to-their-highest-level-in-history-in-2021\">carbon emissions are still\u00a0increasing<\/a>. Last year saw the highest global emissions ever. This year is likely to be higher again. Climate policy is broken. By forcing up the price of fossil fuels, policymakers put the cart in front of the horse. Instead, we need to make green energy much cheaper and more effective.<\/p>\n<p>Humanity has relied on innovation to fix other big challenges. We didn\u2019t solve air pollution by forcing everyone to stop driving but by inventing the catalytic converter that drastically lowers pollution. We didn\u2019t slash hunger by telling everyone to eat less but through the Green Revolution that enabled farmers to produce much more food.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/george-w-bush.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"George W Bush\" class=\"wp-image-22710011\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/george-w-bush.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/george-w-bush.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/george-w-bush.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Former President George W. Bush\u2019s investment in shale gas led to a reduction in carbon emissions. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Yet innovation in green energy has been neglected for three decades. In 1980, the rich world spent more than\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/data-and-statistics\/data-product\/energy-technology-rd-and-d-budget-database-2\">8 cents<\/a>\u00a0of every $100 of GDP on low-carbon technologies. As climate policies focused on making fossil fuels more expensive, green research spending halved to fewer than 4 cents of every $100.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Copenhagen Consensus researchers, including three Nobel laureate economists, have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/smart-solutions-to-climate-change\/EF9C795276152DA451BA256951220BDF\">shown the most effective climate policy possible <\/a>is to increase green research-and-development spending fivefold to $100 billion per year. This would still be much less than the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/assets.bbhub.io\/professional\/sites\/24\/Energy-Transition-Investment-Trends-Exec-Summary-2022.pdf\">$755 billion<\/a>\u00a0the world spent just last year on often-ineffective green <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t know where the breakthroughs will happen. They could come in nuclear energy, which can provide reliable power around the clock unlike the intermittency of solar or wind but remains much more expensive than fossil fuels. With more R&amp;D, \u201cfourth generation\u201d nuclear could end up providing much cheaper, safer power. But we need to look for breakthroughs across all areas of energy technology, from cheaper solar and wind with massive and very cheap storage to CO\u2082 extraction, fusion, second-generation biofuels and many other potential solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Such innovation will create large, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> benefits throughout the coming decades, where the next innovation will be built on the last. Unfortunately, much of the benefits will come after any patents have run out, which is why companies will be hesitant to invest. Instead we need public innovation investments.<\/p>\n<p>The best example of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>-changing climate innovation is the 10-year, $10 billion public investment in shale gas President George W. Bush launched, which ultimately led to energy companies embracing the technology. Not intended as climate policy, it led the way for a production surge of cheap gas, outcompeting a significant part of coal. Gas emits about half the CO\u2082; this was a major reason America has seen the single-biggest emission reduction the past decade.<\/p>\n<p>We will not solve climate change by making fossil energy unaffordable but by innovating down the price of green technologies so everyone will be able to switch.<\/p>\n<p><em>Bjorn Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus and visiting fellow at Stanford University\u2019s Hoover Institution. His latest book is \u201cFalse Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.\u201d<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/19\/fossil-fuel-price-spikes-are-causing-pain-but-little-climate-payoff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Fossil-fuel price spikes are causing pain but little climate payoff&#8221; For three decades, climate campaigners have fought to make fossil fuels so expensive that people would be forced to abandon them. Their dream is becoming reality: Energy prices are spiraling out of control and will soon get even worse. Yet we are no closer to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":465440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/gas-station.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[130492,43485,77028,100568,81229,72654],"class_list":["post-465439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-19-22","tag-climate-change","tag-fossil-fuel","tag-gas-prices","tag-green-energy","tag-paris-climate-accord"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}