[Book Sip] The Next 30-50 Years Are Critical: The Future of the 2050 Energy Empire

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly resonate with the reader’s heart, creating a connection with the book. We introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor’s note

The two authors state, “Over the next 30 to 50 years, humanity will undergo significant changes in the energy sector in one form or another.” They emphasize that although oil still determines and creates much of everyday life, unlike in the past, the transition to new energy sources is inevitable to address the pressing challenge of climate change facing humanity. To this end, they discuss renewable energy, currently spotlighted as an alternative energy source, and the highly anticipated ‘hydrogen,’ examining the potential and limitations of these energy sources as well as utilization cases in neighboring countries and Europe.

Our daily lives and economy today rely on oil more than we can imagine. Oil is not just one of many commodities but a ‘prerequisite’ that makes all goods and services we enjoy possible. However, oil is a finite resource. Moreover, addressing climate change, a pressing challenge for humanity, demands the use of new energy sources. Any change in energy sources, for whatever reason, would transform economic structures and everyday life, and nothing will determine the future more powerfully than this.

From the introduction_ 〈Two Factors That Will Decide the Future: Energy and Carbon〉

In international relations, the most powerful form of sanctions without using military force is to block the supply of energy resources such as oil, gas, and coal or to prevent their trade. There is no sanction more threatening to a country’s survival than this. Sanctions related to food are possible but are neither humanitarian nor effective since most countries can produce some food domestically. However, due to oil’s uneven distribution, blocking its trade endangers a nation’s existence. Therefore, the country that controls maritime rights with strong naval power gains hegemony. (Omitted) Even now, the use of energy resources as leverage continues. In 2021, Russia sharply reduced natural gas supplies to Europe amid conflicts with the US and EU over Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As a result, European gas prices surged more than fivefold in December 2021 compared to the first half of that year.

Chapter 1_ 〈Talking About Today’s Energy, Oil〉

The reason the EU advocates carbon neutrality and the expansion of renewable energy is partly due to climate change but also because it benefits the European industrial sector. Currently, European countries lead the renewable energy sector, including wind and solar power. As of 2020, the share of renewable energy in electricity generation in Germany, the UK, Italy, and Spain all exceeds 40%. This is incomparable to South Korea’s 7.2% and is also far superior to the US (20.6%) and Japan (21.7%). As previously noted, Europe leads in the share of renewable energy excluding hydropower. Germany’s renewable energy ratio is 46.7%, the UK’s 44.9%, Spain’s 45.0%, and Italy’s 42.8%, and these numbers continue to rise. Therefore, Europe holds a comparative advantage by accumulating the most business experience and technology in the renewable energy sector.

Chapter 4_ 〈What Does Renewable Energy Mean for Korea?〉

The Future of the Energy Empire 2050 | Written by Yang Su-young & Choi Ji-woong | Business Books | 320 pages | 17,500 KRW