Energy crisis reshapes the race to go green

A global energy crisis, triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting turmoil in oil and gas markets, has profoundly reshaped the world's approach to energy this year, spurring both an accelerated push toward renewables and, paradoxically, a short-term return to coal.

The war sent fossil fuel prices soaring, as sanctions and disruptions squeezed supplies of Russian oil and gas, on which Europe in particular had been heavily dependent. Households and industries faced punishing energy bills, and governments scrambled to secure supplies and shield consumers.

The crisis laid bare the risks of dependence on imported fossil fuels, and many governments responded by framing the rapid build-out of domestic renewable energy as a matter of energy security as well as climate policy. The European Union, in particular, moved to accelerate its shift to clean energy to reduce its reliance on Russian gas.

At the same time, the immediate need to keep the lights on and homes warm led some countries to burn more coal in the short term and to seek new sources of gas, a setback for near-term emissions.

The episode captured the complex crosscurrents of the energy transition. In the long run, many analysts argued, the crisis would hasten the shift to clean energy by exposing the vulnerabilities of fossil fuel dependence and spurring investment in alternatives. But in the short run, it also drove a scramble for fossil fuels, illustrating how the path to a cleaner energy system can be turbulent and uneven.