The biggest and dirtiest secret of the energy market is that most of it is lost in generating, transmitting, distributing, and using it. Solving this problem would be revolutionary, reducing competition for resources that contributes to conflict as well as climate change.

Energy is one of the most valuable businesses in the world, worth trillions of dollars a year. It is the centerpiece of most discussions about climate change because it is associated with around 80% of human made greenhouse gas emissions. As nations compete for it, energy has also been a fuel for geopolitical conflict, and today, competition for resources lurks beneath the Russia-Ukraine war and even the Israel-Hamas crisis.

Before the war, Ukraine was the conduit through which Russia supplied Europe with 40% of its gas. After the war started, this stopped. Russia invaded Ukraine within 48 hours of the mothballing of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that it had built, bypassing Ukraine to supply Europe. Russia has since occupied approximately 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including regions most richly endowed with natural resources like gas, coal, iron ore, and lithium.

Read more: time.com

Photo: time.com