Iran Conflict Accelerating Shift to Renewables, John Kerry Says
(Bloomberg) -- The Iran war has changed perceptions of energy markets, according to former US secretary of state John Kerry, with oil and gas viewed as vulnerable to trade choke points while sources like solar and wind gain ground.
There can be “no question” that the current tensions in the Middle East have accelerated demand for renewable energy, Kerry, who is co-executive chair of investment manager Galvanize, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Guy Johnson.
“I think if you talk to knowledgeable folks in the business world, while they don’t make a lot of noise about it right now, they are moving forward,” he said.
The comments come as oil has erased its wartime gains after flows through the Strait of Hormuz ramped up following progress on a US-Iran peace deal.
Kerry pointed to investments in Texas and the United Arab Emirates as examples showing how even governments not necessarily ideologically aligned with the green shift are moving toward the economic logic of renewables.
The “UAE, for instance — an oil and gas producing country — they are building out 19 gigawatts of battery storage and have put four new nuclear plants online, and they have one of the largest solar fields in the world,” Kerry said. Texas “is now massively building out onshore solar and wind.”
Kerry is in the British capital for London Climate Action Week, where politicians, academics and business leaders have gathered to discuss how to address rising temperatures as Europe deals with a heat wave that’s shattered records across the continent.
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