The IEA and Playing My Part: Is The Template For Our Energy Future?

The leaders of the West and their accomplices in the dinosaur media have spent endless energy since late February trying to convince us that there is only one side to the Russian actions in Ukraine and that, no matter how much it costs each of us, we must do everything in our power to punish Vladimir Putin.  This, in particular, will impact Europeans as the European Union nations are heavily reliant on Russia's vast reserves of hydrocarbons which are critical to driving Europe's economy.  As I published here, one non-governmental organization, RePlanet, has given Europeans one template for weaning themselves from Russia's hydrocarbon exports.  Not to be outdone, the International Energy Agency has weighed in with its own set of recommendations under the guise of "Playing my part" which we will look at in this posting.

 

The recommendations are a result of collaboration between the European Union and the International Energy Agency (IEA), a non-governmental agency that was founded in 1974 with the original goal of securing oil supplies during the OPEC crises.  The IEA is made of of 31 member nations which must meet the following criteria along with being a member of the OECD:

 

1.) Crude oil and/or product reserves equivalent to 90 days of the previous year’s net imports, to which the government has immediate access (even if it does not own them directly) and could be used to address disruptions to global oil supply;

2.) A demand restraint programme to reduce national oil consumption by up to 10%;

3.) Legislation and organisation to operate the Co-ordinated Emergency Response Measures (CERM) on a national basis; 

4.) Legislation and measures to ensure that all oil companies under its jurisdiction report information upon request;

5.) Measures in place to ensure the capability of contributing its share of an IEA collective action. An IEA collective action would be initiated in response to a significant global oil supply disruption and would involve IEA Member Countries making additional volumes of crude and/or product available to the global market (either through increasing supply or reducing demand), with each country’s share based on national consumption as part of the IEA total oil consumption.

Here is a list of the IEA's current membership:

 

 

Not surprisingly, the IEA has become "woke" to the concept of global climate change and its mandate has evolved to include an "all-fuels, all-technology" approach which includes renewables and clean energy technologies along with a greater focus on clean energy technology including energy efficiency. 

 

The "Playing my part" report:

...was undertaken with the following agenda in mind:

 

"People across the European Union want to take action to help Ukraine following Russia’s invasion. Many are also experiencing higher energy bills because of the energy crisis exacerbated by the war. Using less energy is a concrete way for Europeans to reduce their bills, cut reliance on Russian fossil fuels, demonstrate solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and support climate action."

 

After all, it's all about punishing bad bad Russia and supporting good good Ukraine, isn't it?

In their report, the IEA and European Commission include these nine recommendations for "playing your part":

 

1.) Turn down your heating and use less air-conditioning: the average heating temperature across the EU is 22 degrees Celsius.  The report recommends that people turn their heat down to 19 or 20 degrees Celsius and set their air conditioners 1 degree warmer.  Lowering the heating temperature by 1 degree Celsius could save 7 percent of energy used for heating and setting an air conditioner 1 degree warmer could reduce the amount of electricity consumed by almost 10 percent. The report recommends the use of smart controls and digital thermostats to allow households to control their heating and cooling.

 

2.) Adjust your boiler's temperature: resetting a boiler's default temperature can save up to 8 percent of the energy used to heat rooms and water.

 

3.) Work from home: since counting accounts for one-quarter of the oil used by cars in the EU and that the average one-way car commute is 15 kilometres and that more than one-third of jobs in the EU could be done from home, teleworking from home three days a week could reduce a household's fuel bill by around EUR 35 per month even when including the increased energy use at home.

 

4.) Use your car more economically: most car trips in the EU are made with a single occupant.  By pooling car journeys and setting the vehicle's air conditioning 3 degrees Celsius warmer, a household could save around EUR 100 per month.

 

5.) Reduce highway speeds: by reducing highway speeds by 10 kilometres per hour, households could cut their household fuel bill by EUR 60 per year.

 

6.) Leave your car at home on Sundays in large cities: the report recommends that cities mandate car-free Sundays, a practice that has already been adopted by Brussels, Edinburgh, Milan and Paris which could save a household EUR 100 per year.

 

7.) Walk or bike short journeys: On average, roughly one-third of car journeys in the EU are less than 3 kilometres.  By leaving your car at home and cycling or walking, households could save EUR 55 per household.

 

8.) Use public transit: while there is often not much spare capacity on public transit during peak travel hours, the report recommends that companies invoke a flexible working hours arrangement so that the spare capacity is reduced during normal off-peak hours.  As well, public authorities can promote the use of public transit by reducing fares on a temporary basis.

 

9.) Skip the plane, take the train: for distances under 1000 kilometres, high speed trains are an option.  The report recommends that employers encourage their employees to use trains or even virtual meetings as an alternative to travelling by airplane.  Based on Europe's current high-speed train infrastructure, the authors note that just under 5 percent of airplane journeys in the EU could be done by train.

  

In closing, here is a graphic summarizing the nine recommendations that will push Vladimir Putin right out of the Kremlin and Ukraine:

 

Isn't it interesting that the International Energy Agency and the European Commission are using a three-pronged approach to "playing my part"; environmental, economic and as an added benefit, punishing Putin's Russia for its military excursion into Ukraine, actions that are actually quite similar to what Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, and the United States have done in other nations over the past few decades?

 

Given the plethora of smart devices most particularly thermostats, how long will it be before governments take it upon themselves to use this technology to set our thermostats for us?  As well, since many new vehicles, particularly EVs, are connected to the internet, how long will it be before the elected class takes it upon themselves to limit our ability to drive where and when we wish, forcing us to adopt "carless Sundays" or whatever day or days they deem necessary?  I believe that it is entirely possible that governments could use the recommendations to cut energy consumption from Russia as a template for future climate change-related energy reductions.  One thing that you can assure yourself of is, that given their behaviours while the rest of the serf class was under pandemic lockdowns, the ruling class will be living in their well-heated/well air conditioned mansions, flying and driving wherever they please and whenever they please.

 

And, I'm also betting that Europe's strategy of completely weaning itself from Russia's hydrocarbons will just present other major economies (i.e. China, India etcetera) the opportunity of a lifetime to ensure their own supply of imported energy.