You have to appreciate the good news, it is so rare. The 14% drop in electricity prices in February is one of them. To get to this point, it took an incredible combination of circumstances. In particular the fall of the Barnier government, which brought with it an increase in taxes intended to replenish the national piggy bank. The second favorable conjunction is the drop in the price of gas to which the price of electricity is pegged. Responsible for the crazy increase in 2022, this convoluted mechanism is now producing the opposite effect: this time it benefits individuals. For how long? That’s the rub. The third beneficial effect for the wallet is global: never before, on the planet, has electricity production been so strong. An opportunity for the environment? Not necessarily. Because behind this rush towards megawatts lies a not very clean reality. You only have to see the surge in coal consumption to be convinced of this. Although they are making efforts to produce clean energy, China and India remain ogres gobbling up billions of tons of lignite. Releasing astronomical quantities of CO2, sulfur and fine particles into the atmosphere. Still in China, the power in place authorizes the craziest hydroelectric projects: destroying the local biotope weighs so little compared to the needs of the world’s factory.
And in “developed” countries, are we saints? No, obviously. Since the end of low-cost Russian gas, supertankers have been transporting liquefied gas from around the world across the oceans. With a carbon footprint to make you shudder. In short, the electricity fairy is not yet very virtuous on our good old Earth. However, it is in his hands that the future rests. Because tomorrow, the one who produces green, inexpensive and abundant electricity will literally be… the king of oil.
Belgium
