The possibility of replacing coal power plants with nuclear capacity is being actively explored in the USA and elsewhere.

Renewable generation sources include conventional hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. In the United States, most renewable electricity generation comes from hydropower, solar, and wind.

So far, in 2022, spot electricity prices are five to ten times higher than in previous years. On August 22, the daily spot market price for Germany exceeded 600 EUR/MWh, 15 times the average of the 2010s.

Benchmark energy futures fell after jumping on Monday, with Dutch front-month gas losing as much as 13% and German year-ahead power falling 11%.

Gas prices surged more than 35% on Monday as traders reacted to Russia’s decision to keep its main gas pipeline shut indefinitely.

Europe and North America are sanctioning the Russian economy, including its energy exports, while Russia is retaliating by cutting key resources, in particular natural gas flows to Europe. This is massively disruptive

That should help to make future decision making easier. But it is not going to help keep us warm this winter or indeed even in winter 2024.

The economy will face additional challenges, beginning immediately but growing most rapidly in the period from 2035 to 2050 as all remaining fossil-fueled end uses are transitioned to electric end uses.

The growing emphasis on ESG is a key component in the upstream oil and gas industry.

Germany, which has the European Union’s biggest economy, and other countries intend restarting mothballed coal-fired power plants and extending the life of their nuclear power plants to reduce their reliance on Russian gas and coal following its invasion of Ukraine.