“The Grand Bazaar of Energy”: investigation into the threatening chaos

“This energy crisis is even more serious than that of the 1970s.” This concise sentence is not pronounced by an ecological activist or a politician in need of a punchline, but by Fatih Birol. The executive director of the International Energy Agency, an eminent specialist recognized worldwide, makes this confession to our reporter Erwan Benezet, in a book to be published this Wednesday. In charge of energy issues within the editorial staff of Le Parisien – Today in France, he publishes “the Grand Bazar of energy” (304 p., Éd. Arthaud, 21 euros).

Its starting point is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Beyond the fear of the return of war on the Old Continent, it has rekindled fears – well-founded – that we thought had disappeared in our consumer society: lacking gas to feed ourselves, electricity to heat ourselves. It was a close call.

In his year-long investigation, Erwan Benezet methodically demonstrates that this unprecedented crisis was in reality a large tank of gasoline that only needed a match to explode. And it was Vladimir Putin who scratched it. The war waged by the autocrat showed European citizens overnight how their leaders had, through convenience, made them slowly but surely dependent on Russian gas and oildespite the geopolitical threats that have been looming for many years.

Europe’s resilience

It also highlighted the gaping flaws in our electricity production. And especially, the failing state of French nuclear power plants, unable last winter to cover our needs. Never seen. No jealousy, everyone is responsible. First of all, the French governments and from all sides, who for twenty years pursued an energy policy guided by convictions that were more ideological than technological. Then Europe, which created a lame electricity market supposed to bring down prices when they have increased and even exploded in recent months. Finally, the successive leaders of EDF, who played with the rules to maximize their profits, to the detriment of consumers.

But this crisis may ultimately have been a blessing in disguise. At the height of the storm, Europe showed resilience, in a flash the 27 agreed to find new gas and oil routes, while not many people would have bet a ruble on their success . In France, the executive has finally given a clear guideline for the nuclear sector for the next twenty years and decided to invest for good in renewable energies. And we, citizens, have now understood that energy is a precious good and that we had to rethink our way of life.

The fact remains that, as Erwan Benezet rightly writes, avoiding power cuts or fuel shortages is incommensurate with the real chaos that threatens us: global warming. No more choice, we must turn our back on hydrocarbons, even though our energy needs will continue to increase. A much bigger challenge.