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The Inquiry: Can a country live on renewable energy alone?

Can a country live on renewable energy alone?

17/11/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, Can a country live on renewable energy alone?

Can renewable sources provide enough energy to eliminate our use of fossil fuels?

Renewables now provide more energy than coal, and produce no greenhouse gas emissions – but can they power entire countries?

The International Energy Agency says that the world is in the middle of the first global energy crisis. The price of natural gas has increased almost five-fold since the summer of 2020, and the main cause is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has cut supplies of gas to European countries that oppose the war, causing the wholesale price to shoot up everywhere. 

Many countries have turned to coal to fuel their power stations, also causing prices to triple in the last year. But as well as being expensive, coal is also the most polluting fossil fuel. The situation has accelerated the push towards renewables, but can they provide the all the power needed by a country – as well as providing energy security? So this week on the Inquiry, we ask: can a country live on renewable energy alone?  

Presenter: Tanya Beckett 
Producer:  Ravi Naik 
Researcher:  Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty 
Editor Tara McDermott 
Technical producer Richard Hannaford
Broadcast Coordinator Jacqui Johnson 

(Photo: Offshore wind turbine farm at sunset:  Creit: Imaginima/Getty Images)

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Can a country live on renewable energy alone?

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