Countries must seek energy independence through renewables and nuclear, says John Kerry

The former US secretary of state John Kerry warned that countries must seek energy independence through renewable resources and nuclear energy for their national security and to avoid the "choke points" of fossil fuel supply.

“Countries must seek energy independence through renewable resources and nuclear energy for their national security, and to avoid the “choke points” of fossil fuel supply, the former US secretary of state John Kerry has warned”

The Guardian

He told the Guardian that the key takeaway from current events is that fuel — oil and gas, particularly — is a security challenge and that energy independence is even more important going forward because nations should not be "the prisoner of a choke point" or have their economies greatly disrupted as a result.

The Guardian

The war in Iran has sent oil prices soaring, with refineries and fields closed down in several Middle Eastern countries and many tankers stranded in the strait of Hormuz, and economic impacts beginning to be felt around the world.

Kerry said the war in Iran, led by the US and Israel, was not an oil war "per se", but that the conflict was revealing a dependence on oil that had made many developed economies fragile.

The Guardian

He said people are starting to realise they must stop being dependent on other countries for their energy.

Kerry argued that the economic and national security impacts of the oil shock could do more to push the world quickly to clean energy than calls for climate action have done.

“Countries must seek energy independence through renewable resources and nuclear energy for their national security, and to avoid the “choke points” of fossil fuel supply, the former US secretary of state John Kerry has warned”

The Guardian

He compared the situation to the 1970s oil embargo, which he said resulted in a speed up of the transition to other energy sources, and contrasted that with the 1990s when climate goals were set but "things didn’t move as fast".

He said China embarked on the strategy in 2019 and had moved "at a staggering pace" to remove its reliance on fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy.

Kerry also argued that countries should build new nuclear power plants, including "small modular reactors", to satisfy the need for low-carbon power including that of new AI datacentres, saying "the resurgence of interest in nuclear is very defined and very important."

He said both renewables and nuclear could satisfy those needs without needing fossil fuel backup and called the economic choice compelling for deploying new technologies.

The Guardian

Kerry warned that countries were lining up to be either "electrostates" or petrostates, with electrostates enjoying greater national security, and he urged investment in smart grids capable of meeting rapidly growing electricity demand.