The increase in the cost of energy that could be caused by the extension of the use of renewables (mainly wind and solar) has become the main concern of Europeans in the face of the ecological transition of the economies. This is how Funcas reveals it in his study ‘Energy and society: perspectives on the energy transition in times of crisis’ and collected by Europa Press.
However, the increase in the cost of energy that could be produced by the extension of the use of renewables (mainly wind and solar) is greatly slowing down the development of the transition, as revealed by Funcas in his study ‘Energy and society: perspectives on the energy transition in times of crisis’.
Despite the fact that European consumers have been very much in favor of decarbonizing industries and evolving towards a more sustainable production model, their willingness to assume extra costs for renewable electricity has been low.
The causes of the slowdown of the energy transition
Following the demand that prices remain stable, consumers have pointed to the security of energy supply, care for the environment and maintenance of the standard of living as other requirements to change their sources of energy consumption towards more ecological ones.
“It is not possible to imagine an energy transition without, at least for a while, prosperity suffering”
However, Eric Heymann, one of the authors and economists of this study, has shown that “an energy transition cannot be imagined without, at least for a while, prosperity suffering” and has pointed out that the extension of the use of renewables will cause conflicts over the sharing of costs between the countries of the European Union.
In addition, Heymann has announced that the energy transition is advancing without European societies having “sufficiently” debated its technical and economic indications, so that it has not been possible to estimate what the real impact will be on the way of life of citizens.
Nuclear power: better alternative
According to the Funcas study, nuclear energy has been postulated as the best alternative for the ecological transition in the current international scenario of energy crisis, although this source will only be socially accepted in those countries that present greater transparency and trust in the institutions.
Regarding Spain, this study has pointed to foreign energy dependence as one of the main challenges for the national economy, since more than 75% of final demand was still supplied by energy from other countries in 2020.
The manufacturing industry, transport and electricity generation are the sectors of the Spanish economy that will face the greatest energy challenge in the coming years, according to this study, which also stresses the importance of the reduction in energy demand coming from a increase in efficiency and not a “forced limitation of consumption”.
