Energy in Demand News, March 8-9, 2026

air pollution, buildings, carbon emissions, circular economy, climate change, decarbonisation, electrification, energy efficiency, energy policy, energy transition, environment, financial instruments, fossil fuels, GHG emissions, industry, international co-operation, mitigation, renewable energy, Sustainable development, transport

The war in the Middle East could end up having a devastating impact on our global energy system. Daniel Yergin, the well-known energy analyst who is author of the 1991 ‘The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power’ asks in the Financial Times this week whether the nightmare scenario for global energy is here. These are early days but such questions need to be asked. One question for the EU is why their gas storage is on average only 30% full. As the Financial Times wrote in a separate article, “The war in the Middle East pushed up European gas prices to their highest level since 2023 earlier this week, leaving the continent facing another energy crunch four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” It continues with quite a shocking development this week: “On Wednesday, a liquefied natural gas tanker originally bound for France became the first cargo in the Atlantic Ocean to reroute to Asia, signalling escalating competition from Asian economies to snap up supplies.” The European Commission last summer started the analysis to revise its energy strategy. Last week EiD asked officials what the latest status is and there was no response. Yergin ends his column with this: “Current oil prices in the $90s are far from the worst-case scenario. But right now, the world is looking at the biggest disruption in oil production in history as well as a resounding shock to global gas markets. The key question for global energy markets now is the duration of this explosive war.” These are definitely anxious days.

Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor, was quoted in the Washington Post this week. “Solar energy is the energy of the future,” Katie Miller posted recently. “Giant fusion reactor up there in the sky — we must rapidly expand solar to compete with China.” Another of her posts suggested solar is more vital to the U.S. than coal power, contradicting White House messaging and policy. What is happening to MAGA these days?

Another major concern was raised in a separate article by the Financial Times this week. “Sea levels across the world are already ‘much higher’ than most scientific assessments have assumed, according to new research, making coasts even more vulnerable to rising oceans as a result of global warming. . . . The study at Wageningen University in the Netherlands found that actual sea levels are on average about 30cm higher globally than estimates produced by the usual scientific models.” Anders Levermann, a professor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said people needed to plan for the fact that although the oceans were responding slowly to climate change, they would eventually see very large sea-level rises. “We have had about a 20cm rise in the last 100 years, but the 1.5C warming we have already seen means that we will eventually get a rise of three to four metres.” It seems obvious that we now have to give much more significant attention to mitigation. When will global decision-makers finally admit we’re in a crisis?

The European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee) has announced the launch of a new journal, The European Journal for Studies in Energy Demand, Efficiency and Resource Use (short: Energy Demand). It is now open for manuscript submissions. See the eceee article on the new journal.

Many relevant events are coming up – you can see the latest list in a post this week. If you know of an upcoming event that EiD readers should know about, please contact us. Let us know your experience.

In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:

Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958), an educational reformer, social activist, and best-selling American author in the early 20th century, provides us with some very wise words this week: “It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognise the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest.”

EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:

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