Energy and surrounding issues has come to the spotlight after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February. Europe and the US miscalculated and fell into Russia's energy trap while they thought Kremlin would yield to their demands if faced with the flood of anti-Russian sanctions.
The world is witnessing the European citizens' fear and the diplomatic scramble among the EU officials as Russia has stopped gas supply through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on the brink of winter.
Europe’s dependence to Russia’s oil and gas
The energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shed more light on Europe's strategic deficiencies in energy. 20 European countries import 6 to 100 percent of their gas from Russia.
This has caused a lot of trouble for households and industries in Europe. In Germany as a benchmark in Europe's power market, electricity costs increased to 700 euros per MWH for their first time in August from 128 euros six months ago and 82 euros a year ago.
Recent findings show that European states have allocated 236 billion euros from September 2021 to August 2022 to hedge household and business against the surge in energy cost.
Some experts link Russia's halting gas exports through Nord Stream 1 to the Ukraine-related European sanctions against Russia. European leaders are concerned whether Russia would extend gas flow cut in an attempt to energy prices which has already sky-rocketed.
Energy crisis effects on Europe
The energy crisis has turned into an all-out tragedy and the media are producing reports on the situation non-stop. Such headlines as “the peak is still to come as winter is approaching, leaving million in the danger of energy shortage”, “lives will be lost”, “energy bills rise to £3,500, worst situation on way”, “whole nations to face tragedy”, “do something for God’s sake”.
Let’s take a closer look at the situation in three European countries, Britain, Germany, and France.
10 million British households in fuel shortage
The World Bank said that the war in Ukraine led to the biggest goods shock in the last 50 years and inflation rate in Britain and the United States has reached the highest numbers in 40 years.
End Fuel Poverty Coalition anticipates that 9.2 million British households will be in fuel poverty since October 1 and this will increase to 10.5 million households until January, warning against “the tsunami of fuel poverty”.
The situation is critical in Britain and some signs of unrest has already occurred. In Glasgow, people took to streets to protest high electricity costs by firing their power bills. In the meantime, 118,000 Britons signed a petition announcing that they wouldn’t pay their electricity bills.
Some German industries on brink of shutdown
Germany has enacted restricting rules for governmental buildings and industrial sectors. The country's power grid agency has said that power consumption has dropped 21.3 percent in the country in July, compared to the same period last year.
Big chemicals producing companies in Germany have been left with few options for their natural gas needs and the possibility of a full shutdown amid uncertainty around Russia’s decision whether to export natural gas to Europe.
Production has decreased by 47.8 percent in glass industry, 34 percent in steel, 32.5 percent in ceramics, 32 percent in food and drink, 31.4 percent in chemicals, 31 percent in texture and leather, 26.7 percent in plastic products, 20.4 in basic metals, and 17.5 percent in automobile and car parts.
The French burn wood in fireplaces
French people have turned to burn wood as fuel for warming their houses. The media reports say that demand for wood and firewood has raised in the country.
Europe’s severe dependence on Russia's energy has made the green continent vulnerable and they have planned to get out of Russia’s energy trap before winter comes. This outlook, however, seems to be gloomy as the situation in Ukraine persists and to make the sanctions against Russia more painful for Europeans.
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