Trust: Why Europe needs to break its imported fossil fuel addiction
Europe is by far the largest importer of fossil fuel in the world. And the recent developments in Ukraine, Syria and Iraq highlight once again how vulnerable Europe's economy is to price spikes, external energy shocks and other regimes' wishes.
Like a patient hoping to get better, the drip-feed of imported fossil fuels is keeping the European economy alive, but isn't providing the remedy to spur new growth.
Just take our energy bill as an example. For years, imports of fossil fuels have weighed in negatively on the European balance of trade. Today, Europe imports more than two-thirds of all the gas and almost all the oil it consumes. And it pays more than 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) per day for its imported fossil fuels.