While 2021 provided its own share of extraordinary energy debacles, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 cascaded into full-blown energy turmoil. This year will begin with the world “in the midst of its first global energy crisis,” noted the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Energy Outlook 2022 (WEO2022) report.
The crisis has so far left Europe scrambling for gas supplies to offset Russian gas shortfalls, but it has also stoked inflationary pressures and created a looming risk of recession. Several governments across the world have so far committed billions of dollars to shield energy consumers from immediate impacts. Some, like Germany and Japan, have taken extraordinary measures to temporarily ramp up oil- and coal-fired power, and extend the lifetimes of some nuclear plants.
