Book Review
Ending Dependence
Europe’s future as an alternative energy power
In January 2009, Russian energy giant Gazprom drastically reduced the supply of natural gas to neighboring Ukraine, a move that effectively severed large parts of Europe from a chief source of heat and power. The cutoff was a result of escalating political tensions between Moscow and Kiev, with the former accusing the latter of failing to pay its gas debts. It is likely, however, that Russia’s discontent was also linked to Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO, as well as the country’s support of Georgia during the 2008 flash war with Russia. With gas no longer flowing through Ukraine to the rest of the European market, thousands of people suffered without heat during the harsh winter. It took several weeks for Russia and Ukraine to reach an agreement to turn the gas back on. It is hardly surprisingly that this new agreement has resulted in significantly higher prices for future gas shipments to Ukraine.
This incident starkly reemphasizes the vulnerability of the energy supplies of many countries, even those in Western Europe. In his new book Energy Security, Sascha Müller-Kraenner of U.S. NGO The Nature Conservancy takes a hard look at the energy status quo, and makes a strong argument for Europe to consider new sources of energy that are both secure and sustainable. He believes that Europe has the capacity to fundamentally change its energy structure, but it must first find the will to act. “Business as usual” is not an option. The book begins with a grim overview of the modern global energy structure: increasingly scarce energy resources are being exploited with little or no regard for the environment; countries are becoming ever more dependent on foreign sources of energy; and monopolistic powers use the threat of withholding energy as a weapon to bend governments to their wills.
Given the recent crisis in Ukraine, it is not surprising that Energy Security devotes an early chapter to Russia. Indeed, the machinations of the Kremlin loom large over the entire book. According to Müller-Kraenner, Russia is the top player in the new “Great Game” to control the supply of energy to Europe and beyond. The face of Russia’s aggressive energy policy is the monolithic Gazprom, the world’s largest gas company. Müller-Kraenner asserts that Gazprom is a political instrument of the Russian government, which seeks to use it as a tool to expand its influence. Gazprom is not merely an energy company; it also has significant holdings in the agriculture and tourism industries, and owns several major Russian newspapers and television stations. With roughly half of its imported fuel coming from Russia, Europe is vulnerable to Gazprom’s (and subsequently Russia’s) whims.
And then there are the rising Asian powers China and India. With two of the largest populations and the fastest growing economies in the world, the energy needs of these countries are not likely to slow any time soon. With the exception of hard coal, both countries lack reliable domestic energy reserves, and are therefore heavily dependent on fuel imports. Like Russia, China utilizes its national oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), to both secure energy resources abroad and influence foreign policy. CNPC operates all over the world, and has attracted significant controversy for its projects in unstable countries like Sudan, Myanmar, and Venezuela.
Müller-Kraenner sees a clear link between unsustainable energy sources and detriments in democracy and human rights. China has been accused of indirectly funding the Sudanese government’s brutal military campaign in Darfur with its investments in the country’s oil infrastructure. Russia, too, is problematic. In addition to allegations of domestic human rights violations—particularly in breakaway Chechnya—Russia obtains natural gas for export from Turkmenistan, a Central Asian dictatorship ruled by “President for Life” Saparmurat Niyazov until his death in 2006. It is only through support from Russia that Turkmenistan’s autocratic regime has survived. Furthermore, much to the consternation of the West, Russia has partnered with Iran on energy deals. Iranian nuclear engineers are trained in Moscow, and Russia is poised to help Iran build several new nuclear power plants, which some fear could be used to create weapons-grade uranium.
Citing American author Thomas Friedman’s claim that “oil and democracy cannot coexist,” Müller-Kraenner points to a number of other cases in which energy exports have had deleterious effects on the environment, and have benefited only members of the often corrupt political and social elite. Ultimately, Müller-Kraenner concludes, the question is whether Europe wants to continue relying on unsustainable imports from undemocratic, volatile countries, or if it wants to break its dependency and work to develop secure and renewable domestic energy sources.
Müller-Kraenner begins his discussion of alternatives to oil and gas by emphatically discounting a source of energy that has seen a popular resurgence in recent years: nuclear power. While proponents argue that nuclear technology and safety have advanced far beyond the era of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, and it is in essence a clean and renewable domestic source of energy, Müller-Kraenner believes that the shortcomings of nuclear power—the lack of a solution for storing radioactive waste, the potential for nuclear material to fall into the hands of terrorists, and the fact that no nuclear power plant is 100 percent safe—still outweigh the advantages. He also opposes the large-scale construction of hydroelectric power plants, citing the negative environmental and social impact of the recent Three Gorges Dam project in China.
What, then, will be the energy sources of the future? Müller-Kraenner promotes a variety of innovative technologies that are safe, renewable, and can be domestically produced, such as biofuels and wind, solar, hydrogen, and geothermal power. In light of the bleak outlook presented earlier in the book, this discussion is a breath of fresh air. Müller-Kraenner envisions alternative energy sources thriving throughout Europe, taking advantage of the continent’s capacity for innovation and abundant natural resources.
These technologies are not without their drawbacks, however. Biofuel crops displace food crops, and the production of photovoltaic cells used in solar power applications is itself energy intensive. Müller-Kraenner addresses some of these concerns, admitting that without proper government oversight, intensive biofuel cultivation could result in decreased sustainability and possibly end up competing with food production. While there is obviously no perfect solution, Müller-Kraenner’s unyielding enthusiasm for alternative energy sources and his somewhat cursory look at their potential shortcomings suggest a “blind faith” in technology.
Energy Security is written from a firmly European perspective. In the last chapters of the book, Müller-Kraenner emphasizes alternative energy solutions that can be achieved with the natural resources and expertise of European countries—focusing on the vast coastlines of Poland and the Baltic states as potential sources of wind energy and promoting German wind turbine and photovoltaic technology. Nevertheless, it would not be difficult to apply these ideas to the United States, where similarly favorable conditions exist for solar, wind, and geothermal power, as well as a large agricultural capacity for growing biofuels.
In the end, Müller-Kraenner suggests that Europe and other alternative energy producers will emerge in the coming decades as the new great energy powers, replacing Russia and the Middle East. To achieve this, there needs to be an initiative to organize “regional cooperation around common resources.” Müller-Kraenner supports the establishment of an International Renewable Energy Agency, or a similar organization that will help coordinate and regulate global energy policy, and push for the implementation of sustainable energy technologies. If these alternative energy sources can break the damaging cycle of foreign energy dependency, Europeans would be well advised to consider his arguments carefully.
Download as PDF (485.538 Bytes)
