Here is a brief overview of the global energy shift

Europe is in a race against time that will cost a lot of money. Here is what you need to know about the energy transition around the world.

1. Europe is in a pricey race to fill up its petrol storage.

Experts say that as Europe comes out of a mild winter with petrol storage levels close to all-time highs, governments need to get ready for another expensive effort to fill up reserves on the international market. Last year, when Russia cut off the flow of relatively cheap pipeline gas to Europe, gas prices in Europe jumped to all-time highs.

Even though prices in Europe have gone down from their peak of more than €340 per megawatt hour in August to around €50 ($53), they are still higher than they have been in the past. This means that the government will have to pay a huge sum again to fill up the storage sites before the peak of winter demand later this year.

To avoid running out of gas, they will have to do this every year until the continent has found a more permanent way to get gas besides the Russian pipeline gas it has relied on for decades. Data from the European Commission showed that the amount of Russian pipeline gas that Europe bought last year was 60% less than the average of the five years before. This year, Russia is expected to send less than half as much to the EU.

Industry experts say that the amount already in storage, which is about 64% full, and an increase in French nuclear generation will help ease Europe’s petrol crisis. But even when full, Europe’s storage caverns can only meet about a quarter of the need. Analysts say that more renewable energy is the long-term solution to the lack of gas and that the energy crisis will speed up the process.

2. Indonesia starts a way for coal power plants to trade carbon emissions

Indonesia has started the first step of requiring coal power plants to buy and sell carbon credits. The move is part of efforts by Southeast Asia’s biggest economy to boost renewable energy and reach net zero emissions by 2060. Indonesia gets more than half its electricity from coal.

In the first part of the carbon trading mechanism, 99 power plants will be involved. Under the system, plants that put out more carbon than their quota can buy carbon credits from plants that put out less carbon than their quota or from plants that use renewable energy.

Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif said, “Carbon pricing is one of the policies that could increase energy efficiency, reduce reliance on carbon energy and imported energy, and give the company and government a way to make money.”

Indonesia set big goals last year to cut its carbon emissions by 31.89% on its own or by 43.2% with help from other countries by 2030.

3. More energy news from around the world in a nutshell

Scientific American says that the US plans to get coastal states ready for floating offshore wind farms.  This will include a study of how possible it is to connect floating wind power facilities to the grid on the West Coast.

European companies are thinking about spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build wind turbine plants in Vietnam. This is because the country is getting ready to use its huge untapped potential in offshore wind. People think that Vietnam could be a big player in the sector because it has strong winds and shallow coastal waters near a lot of people.

A $442 million project to build two wind power plants by an Indian energy company has been approved by Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment. Since the country has had rolling power outages for over a year, the government has moved up projects to use renewable energy.

A $1.3 billion hydroelectric power station in Nigeria will be run and managed by a local energy company. The project, which is being paid for by China, is meant to make the power supply more stable in the country with the most people in Africa.

More than 20 companies in the carbon removal business have started a group that will lobby the US government for new policies that will help bring the technology to the market. After the Federal Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act were passed, investors put a lot of money into the new pitch.

Gasworld reports that a US state senator plans to reintroduce a bill that will help Pennsylvania’s chances of becoming a centre for carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration (CCUS). Gene Yaw says that the state could have a large CCUS network.

Industry analysis shows that sales of heat pumps in Europe grew by more than a third and hit a record high last year. With help from the government and rising prices for fossil fuels, more people are using solar energy.

Hydrogen Central says that the British chemical company Ineos has gotten the money it needs to build Europe’s greenest ethane cracker power plant. The low-carbon hydrogen will power the £3.1 billion ($3.7 billion) project in Belgium.

Cuba has been experiencing a lot of power outages, leaving large parts of the island’s centre and east without electricity. Officials in Cuba have said that a lack of fuel, putting off maintenance, and problems processing heavy, sour Cuban crude, which is burned in its oil-fired plants, are to blame.

4. More on energy from Agenda

The International Energy Agency says that in 2022, fossil fuels will receive subsidies worth a record $1 trillion. Even though, as part of the 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact, they promised to stop giving “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” over time.

To keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5°C, coal use must be limited. Researchers at University College London talk about what they found in a new paper about the biggest problems with current plans to stop climate change from getting worse.

The cost-of-living crisis is getting worse because of how slowly the energy transition is going and how dependent the country is on fossil fuel imports. This makes households more likely to be energy poor, but the burden isn’t the same for everyone, say researchers.