Reducing Dependence on Russian Energy Is More Realistic Than You Think
It is risky, complicated and difficult — but so is allowing the Kremlin to continue to threaten Europe with violence and economic ruin.
Realistically, can Europe live without Russian gas?
Photographer: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty ImagesThere is nothing realistic about our global energy system apart from the fact that it exists.
Modern society depends on long, complex systems that tap deposits of fuel, often located in unstable or inhospitable parts of the world, and carry it across deserts, mountains and high seas to eventually flow from spigots everywhere — even Antarctica. Power grids in much of the world reliably supply not only dense cities but also remote villages and homesteads that could never justify the cost of those long lines on their own. Increasingly, we use electricity sources that operate at the behest of the weather and time of day rather than our demands. We also — get this — split atoms in order to do stuff like charge up our phones.