Energy crisis

It was reported that Enemalta will be running the Delimara power station on more expensive low sulphur oil, on instructions from Brussels, to cut down further on emissions. The problem with this is the escalating cost of oil (and our future electricity surcharges) because the world has suddenly realised that the end of the petroleum age is not far off.

Exactly how far off is speculative but production from the Middle-East and Russia (biggest two) is claimed to have peaked, other relatively minor wells, such the North Sea, are drying up and new finds, such as in Brazil, are estimated to be too small to meet future world demand.

Some recent estimates put world peak oil output at around 2020. After that, oil could suddenly be no longer available on the open market. Enemalta will probably opt for gas-fired power stations in the not-too-distant future, as this is still cheaper and is expected to last longer than oil, but is still finite, as is coal, the latter being the dirtiest of fossil fuels.

France is practically energy self-sufficient, already sourcing 80 per cent of its electricity needs from emissions-free nuclear power (price of electricity in France is half that in Italy). Switzerland also gets 40 per cent of its electricity from nuclear and Britain is planning to expand its nuclear reactors. Other European countries, however, seem more bent on subsidising windmills, when "renewables" are not expected to provide more than 10 per cent of future world electricity demand.

The EU is dependent on gas supplies from unreliable sources and needs to accept that nuclear is the only provider of emissions-free electricity on the scale needed in the future.

If it had a 100 per cent reliable electricity grid, combined with nuclear energy self-sufficiency (like France), Malta could, perhaps, rely entirely on a cable connection to Sicily for its electricity needs at some stage in the future. However, Europe appears to be sleep-walking into a historic energy crisis.