Russia's war in Ukraine is impacting our net-zero trajectory.

WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES, March 21, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the global energy supply chain, producing historic levels of stress globally and plunging Europe into its worst energy crisis ever. Natural gas prices are stratospheric from China to Brazil, and even higher in Europe.

Just as worrying is the war’s impact on the metals which are essential to keeping the United States on the road to net-zero carbon. These include nickel, palladium, platinum, and uranium. Battery, fuel cell and electronics manufacturing could be affected as well as wind and solar generation.

Future electric utility decisions may be in doubt. Meanwhile electricity prices are rising, driven in part by natural gas prices.

Supply chain shortages drove inflation after World War II. Energy shortages drove inflation in the 1970s and 1980s. Now there could be double inflationary forces at work: commodities plus energy.

The United States Energy Association has assembled an extraordinary panel of experts to address these issues at its next virtual press briefing on Friday, March 25, at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

A panel of top journalists from leading publications and television will ask the experts questions on how the war will impact the future of every player in the energy space.

USEA Acting Executive Director Sheila Hollis will give opening remarks. Llewellyn King, syndicated columnist and broadcaster, organized the briefing and will serve as the moderator.

“I went through the energy crisis that was unleashed on the world with the Arab oil embargo of 1973. It is all eerily familiar -- except this time, the brunt of the oil and gas shortage is being felt in Europe,” King said.

“But the metals shortage could hit the United States hard: Battery production depends on nickel – and Russia is the world’s largest nickel supplier. Russian metals exports include palladium and platinum, both vital in electronics in the connected utility industry.

“If battery manufacturing is reduced or curtailed, a lot of things will happen, including a slowdown in the deployment of electric vehicles and in utility-scale battery storage. Additionally, many nuclear power plants have been dependent on uranium from Russia,” he said.

At the top of the briefing, Lori Esposito Murray, President of the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board will set the economic scene.

The other experts lined up to talk about the troubled horizon are:

• Nick Akins, President and CEO of AEP Energy, a utility serving 500,000 customers in Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states
• Clinton Vince, Chair of Dentons’ U.S. Energy Practice and Co-Chair of its Global Energy Sector
• Peter Londa, President of Tantalus Systems, providers of smart grid solutions for public power and electric cooperative utilities

The reporters who will question the experts are:

• Ken Silverstein, Forbes
• Kostis Geropoulos, The New European
• Jennifer Hiller, The Wall Street Journal
• Herman Trabish, Utility Dive
• Linda Gasparello, PBS
• Markham Hislop, Energi Media

“This may be one of the most critical examinations of the future of energy since the energy crisis of the 1970s and 1980s,” King said.

As with previous briefings, this one will be held on Zoom and will last one hour. Following it, a recording will be available on the USEA website https://www.usea.org.

While these briefings are designed to inform the media, they are open to members of the USEA and to the public.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PwupUH_nTzWXO0qvuCeVAA

Llewellyn King
White House Media LLC
+1 202-441-2702
whchronicle@gmail.com

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