1、15/06/2022INDEPENDEN T P U B L I C AT I O N BY#0813R AC O N T EU R.NE TFUTURE OF ENERGYHOW TO BALANCE THE ENERGY TRILEMMATHE ATTRACTIONS OF GRAVITY BATTERIES1103IS DOMESTIC SOLAR A SMART INVESTMENT?17Hitachi Energy Advancing a sustainable energy future for R A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F E N

2、E R G Y0302/future-energy-2022e are in the middle of the first global energy crisis.”Dr Fatih Birol,executive director of the International Energy Agency,wasnt mincing his words atthe annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos in May.Summing up the scale of the problem facing great swathes

3、of humanity,Birol told delegates:“In the seventies,it was the oil crisis.Now we have an oil crisis,a natural gas crisis and a coal crisis.All prices are skyrocketing.Energy security isa priority for many governments,if not all.”He stressed that the clean and renewable sources of energy should form t

4、he basis of the solution,arguing that“we dont need to choose between an energy crisis and a climate crisis.We can solve both of them with the right investment.”With that proviso,Birol encapsulated the energy trilemma facing most administrations.They are struggling to strike the optimal balance betwe

5、en three important goals energy security,sustainability and affordability where the pursuit of any two always seems to come at the expense of the third.Given the international socioeconomic impact of Russias latest invasion of Ukraine,the most pressing task for the many nations affected by the war i

6、s to keep the lights on in their countries as Birol noted at an affordable price.But if they look to new fossilfuel sources to improve their immediate energy security,for instance,thats likely to increase global warming and exacerbate the climate crisis in the longer term.Or if they accept discounte