Europe’s drive to invest in renewable infrastructure is long overdue

No matter what Europe does this winter, it is going to be a difficult few months. They will likely serve as a stark reminder that Europe has neglected diversification for expedience.

As the fighting in Ukraine reaches a strategic stalemate, the conflict’s impact on energy markets is intensifying.

The price of gas is going up, supplies continue to tighten, and the prospect of shortages, and even blackouts across Europe, seem ever more likely.

Now, every European government is working overtime to address the issue, making long overdue investments in new technologies, and infrastructure to find a solution before it reaches a crisis point.

Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine destabilised global energy supplies, European energy markets desperately needed a technological upgrade, systems were too carbon intensive, and inefficient.

It has also been clear for some time that Europe’s reliance on Russia came at the expense of this investment — it should not have required a geopolitical crisis to instigate the wealth of commitments from Europe we are seeing today.

In particular it is difficult, now, not to question the years of investment in Nord Stream 1 and 2 as Europe slowly reduces its dependence on…