Trump’s war in the Middle East may end up a global boon for renewables, as think tank calls return-to-coal narrative ‘meaningless’

The global energy shock stemming from the conflict in the Middle East is rewriting the ways governments think about their power needs. Big Oil has predictably emerged as an early winner, benefiting from soaring oil and gas prices, but the long-term upshot could be faster dispersal of an altogether different energy source.

Despite negotiation attempts during the current ceasefire, officials from theTrump administration and Iran remain at an impasse over the Strait of Hormuz, meaning most of the Middle East’s oil and gas is still locked up in the Persian Gulf seven weeks since the start of the war.

That hole in global energy supply has sent countries scrambling for alternatives for their fuel and electricity needs, including for coal, potentially marking a resurgence for the dirtiest fossil fuel that was quickly being phased out around the world. Asian countries, formerly the Middle East’s biggest energy customers, have indeed delayed plans to close down coal-fired power plants and ramped up output from existing ones. 

But while coal demand has risen since the Strait of Hormuz locked down, the data tells an altogether different story about what direction the global........

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