Renewables reality check in the age of energy security

**Pamela Largue** (0:12)
In this episode of the Energy Transitions Podcast, I speak to Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance, about why he believes the world is approaching a critical tipping point in the shift away from fossil fuels. From electrification and energy security, to investment, policy and the battle against misinformation, Bruce shares why he remains optimistic that the renewable energy transition is not only inevitable, but accelerating. He also explains why it's time to create Renewables FOMO to ensure politicians grab a hold of what he refers to as the biggest economic opportunity of our lifetime. I'm Pamela Largue, and this is the Energy Transitions Podcast.
Thank you so much for joining me today. We're talking about renewable energy in an age where it seems like everyone is talking about geopolitics and energy security. So it's great to get your insights into the topic. Do you believe that recent geopolitical shocks have really changed how governments are considering renewable energy or advancing renewable energy, and perhaps the narrative around renewables?

**Bruce Douglas** (1:30)
Thanks, Pamela, and thanks for the invite to join the podcast. Well, absolutely is the short answer. I mean, governments are now realising again, and what is the second energy shock, energy crisis in four years, that dependence on fossil fuel imports creates insecurity, high and volatile energy prices, and in some cases restriction on supply. So in Southeast Asia, for example, it's now an existential threat to society there. Their realisation is continuing because the crisis is continuing. And let me just say, I see it as a fossil fuel crisis, not an energy crisis. So very specific to oil and gas constraints, creating the turbulence and disturbance in the market.
What governments are now doing, and we're tracking this on our website, actually, with the Policy Tracker, are taking immediate action to move towards electrified and renewable future. Of course, the narrative is still about, okay, drill baby drill, exploit more oil and gas or even nuclear. But we know that we can show that increased exploitation of oil and gas in many markets won't actually affect the energy price. Certainly not in the short term and even so in the long term.
The actions they're taking is to accelerate electrification, which is a very fast and efficient way to decrease reliance on fossil fuel.
Anything that's electrified, be it a car or heating system, structurally decreases the demand for oil and gas. And that's permanent. Once you've electrified anything, you don't go back. And so governments are putting in a lot of policies to accelerate electrification. But also to accelerate renewables.
So that's the generation supply side and the demand side being covered. And on the generation side with renewables, they can see that renewables are the fastest and cheapest way to add new capacity, add new power generation to their systems. And we're seeing that across the world. That's not just in Europe, but I'd say primarily in Asia, in Southeast Asia, where we're seeing Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea. Around the world, governments are waking up to this and seeing the opportunity. And the main reason for this is the economics. So electro tech, on average, is 40% cheaper than it was four years ago in the last crisis. So the last crisis, there was already a move towards renewables and electrification, but this time being much cheaper, and now it's significantly cheaper than the fossil fuel alternative. The governments are saying, okay, well, this is not just a security point. This is an economic point, and we can transition fast and provide low cost, secure, reliable energy to consumers. And those drivers are powerful. And I think we could probably look back and see this is the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era. This is clearly a tipping point, and a lot of governments are now seeing that as such.

**Pamela Largue** (4:42)
Yeah, interesting. And I mean, you refer specifically to Asia as well.
I know that they were particularly hard hit, especially after the Strait of Hormuz issues and a lot of the supply constraints that that has resulted in. And I think it's interesting for me that governments in that region are really starting to double down, as you say, on electrification and on the renewable agenda. I know that it can depend on governments and administrations, but are you seeing particular regions that are maybe leading in this regard?

**Bruce Douglas** (5:13)
Well, that is linked to their dependence on imported fossil fuel. So what we know is that 75% of the world's population live in countries that are net importers of fossil fuel. So that's significant dependence on someone else for your energy, including Europe and most of Southeast Asia, a lot of African countries.