US energy secretary says turning to wind and solar "could be the greatest peace plan of all"

A global transition to cleaner energy sources could be the world’s best opportunity to minimize the possibility of global conflict, the US energy secretary said at a major energy forum in Sydney.

In a speech at the Sydney Energy Forum on Tuesday, US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said the shift to cleaner energy sources meant no country could be “hostage” for its access to solar and wind resources.

“No country has ever been held hostage to access the sun. No country has ever been held hostage to access the wind. They were never armed, nor will they be,” Granholm told the forum.

“So, therefore, our move to clean energy globally could be the greatest peace plan of all.”

“We want and need to switch to clean energy, and we share this with Australia. We have lots of sunshine and lots of land for solar and wind farms. Coastal with offshore wind expert employment opportunities.”

“But we see an opportunity for us as clean energy exporters to be able to play a role in bringing that peace plan to the world,” Granholm added.

Granholm spoke in the context of the major crisis facing global energy markets, particularly triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is a major exporter of fossil fuels, especially to Europe, and has dramatically cut fuel supplies to European countries that resisted the Russian invasion.

Granholm told the forum that like-minded countries like Australia and the United States need to work to build their own supply chains for clean energy technologies, to avoid a repeat of conflict-driven pressures on access to energy technologies.

“China has a huge stake in a lot of technology and supply chains that can ultimately leave us vulnerable if we don’t develop our own supply chains,” Granholm said.

“And therefore, from an energy security point of view, it is very important for countries of the same value to develop our own supply chains, not only for the climate, which is of course very important, but for our own energy security. ”

“We have seen what happens when we rely too much on one entity for fuel sources.

In his own speech at the forum, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said it was currently in the midst of the “first global energy crisis”, and that this had been intensified by Russia’s status as the instigator of the recent energy crisis. conflict and major fossil fuel exporter.

“Oil, natural gas, coal and electricity prices are rising, breaking through roofs. Why? very simple: Russia, the country that invaded Ukraine in February, is the world’s number one exporter of oil, the world’s number one exporter of natural gas, and a major player in the coal market,” said Birol.

“And as a result, we see that the entire energy system is in crisis.”

Both Granholm and Birol spoke at the Sydney Energy Forum, which is co-hosted by the Australian government, the International Energy Agency and the Australian Business Council, and is part of the new Alba government’s efforts to rehabilitate Australia’s reputation as an actor. on climate change and advocates of green energy technology.

Granholm has similarly been tasked with restoring international confidence in the United States’ commitment to climate action, following a destructive period under the Trump Administration that included withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

The Biden administration has set a target to transition the United States’ electricity system to 100 percent ‘clean’ electricity by early 2035. Granholm said the timeline calls for an ‘aggressive’ and ‘regular’ energy system transition.

“As we aggressively build on this clean energy future, we have to make sure it’s done in a managed way, we have to make sure it’s an aggressive transition, orderly, and not a disorganized one, because it can set us back on track,” he said. Granholm.

“The president of the United States is passionate about growing the clean energy cake by building clean.”

“This transition, in the United States – we have 13 years before we reach 100 percent clean electricity – it’s not just flipping a switch, it’s a period of time that allows us to do this in a way that achieves buy-in, and it’s still very aggressive.”

Michael Mazengarb is a Sydney-based reporter for RenewEconomy, writing about climate change, clean energy, electric vehicles and politics. Prior to joining RenewEconomy, Michael worked in climate and energy policy for more than a decade.

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