Never go back to the old energy system!
The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, Fatih Birol, describes the current energy crisis as “the most severe energy shock of all time”.
The situation on the fossil fuel front is not only dramatic but also threatening. Even a de-escalation of the war with Iran would do nothing to change this, according to Birol. We are currently experiencing a historic energy crisis.
“The US and Israeli attack on Iran is currently leading to significantly lower oil and gas exports from the Gulf region. Before the war, around 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas production was transported through the Strait of Hormuz in almost a hundred ships a day. At present, only a handful of ships are passing through the strait. Added to this are attacks by both sides on energy infrastructure such as refineries or gas fields” (TAZ 23 March 2026). The Iran war is essentially a war over resources and, after just over two weeks, has already claimed 4,000 lives.
What was the situation during previous energy crises?
During the oil crises of the 1970s, the world lost only five million barrels of oil per day. But to date, we have lost eleven million barrels per day, the IEA chief has now said: “That is more than the two major oil shocks combined.” We see the same picture with gas. But the major future energy sources sun and wind do not need the Strait of Hormuz.
Over 80 per cent of energy shipments from the Gulf region go to Asia. One winner in the current crisis is Chinese battery manufacturers. Above all, however, Putin is benefiting in his war against Ukraine. The crisis and high oil prices are currently filling Putin’s war chest once again.
In the long term, there is only one solution to this crisis: a rapid global transition to renewable energies.
The oil and gas shocks across the entire old energy sector are a global driver of green energy. The head of the IEA in Paris is also certain that there will never be a return to the old fossil-fuel and nuclear energy sector. And the current head of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Swiss billionaire Andre Hoffmann, has just said in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “We need a new kind of capitalism… I am firmly convinced that the current system will destroy us” (SZ 24 March 2026). Hoffmann advocates for sustainability, climate protection and diversity.
Energy is the material foundation of the coming civilisation as well. And renewable energies are the most cost-effective, available to us in unimaginable abundance for all time, without destroying the climate and nature. The sun is the long-forgotten energy giant, providing us with about 15,000 times more energy than the eight billion people currently consume.
There are five reasons why there is no way around the rapid transformation of the entire energy policy:
- The costs of solar panels and storage systems have fallen and have been falling drastically for 25 years due to mass production.
- Solar systems and heat pumps are becoming and have become increasingly efficient, durable and easier to install.
- More and more roofs, fields, desert areas, lakes and cities have become and are becoming green power stations.
- In addition to sun and wind, we also have the following natural storage options at our disposal: bioenergy, hydropower, geothermal energy, as well as tidal and ocean energy.
- Artificial intelligence will help to rapidly accelerate this transformation.
This transition process, aided by artificial intelligence, is also described very impressively by the Head of the ‘Culture and Management’ programme at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Professor Maik Hosang, in his fascinating book „Die wunderliche Welt von morgen: Oder wie Mutter Teresa Elon Musk inspirierte“ (Metamodern-Verlag 2026). What was considered impossible yesterday becomes reality today with a single click or an app.
The fossil fuel industry is fighting its death throes. The ferocity of this struggle should come as no surprise to us. Today’s fossil fuel-based order is already severely weakened. The fossil fuel predators are losing.
There will no longer be a need to wage wars over these future solar energy sources, as has been the case until now. Future energies are energies of freedom and peace, and they safeguard human rights. Renewable energies are facilitating the transition from the age of scarcity to the age of abundance and global prosperity.
The vision of Bangladesh’s transitional president, Muhammad Yunus, can become a reality: “We can consign hunger to the museum of history.” Thanks to Muhammad Yunus’s policies, poor Bangladesh now has more solar installations than wealthy Germany. And China is building more renewable capacity in a single year than the rest of the world combined.
