Speaker
Dan Jørgensen
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
EU commercial stocks of jet fuel are expected to be depleted approximately by the end of summer 2025 if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Europe sourced 50% of its coal from Russia before the 2022 invasion; that figure is now down to zero.
Europe's dependence on Russian oil has fallen from 27% before the 2022 invasion to just 3% now.
Europe sourced 45% of its gas from Russia before 2022; that share is now around 10% and targeted to reach zero.
The IEA calculates that newly deployed renewables save Europe approximately €33 billion a year on electricity bills.
ACER estimates that EU energy interconnection saves member states between €30 and €40 billion compared to 27 isolated national energy markets.
Europe now uses approximately 20% less gas than it did in 2022, following diversification and efficiency efforts after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Europe deployed 78 gigawatts of new renewables the year before last and close to 90 gigawatts last year; 1 GW powers approximately 1 million homes.
Data centres currently account for around 2.5% of EU energy consumption, a figure expected to double within the next five years due to AI growth.
Global investment in solar and wind is now twice the amount being invested in fossil fuels, with most fossil investment going to maintenance of existing infrastructure.
Europe imports more than €370 billion worth of fossil fuels annually, underlining the economic case for accelerating the clean energy transition.
Denmark built the world's first offshore wind park in 1991, a technology once ridiculed as naive that now competes on price with coal and gas globally.
Even Germany, the global heartland of combustion engine manufacturing, is now selling more electric vehicles than internal combustion engine cars.
When Denmark built the world's first offshore wind park in 1991, the reaction was ridicule. Three decades later, offshore wind competes on price with coal and gas globally and is central to energy strategies from Britain to Asia. The lesson: back new technologies early, even when they look absurd.
Europe's jet fuel stocks will be depleted by end of summer if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed. After that come national strategic reserves — but since Europe only refines around 70% of its own jet fuel, a genuine supply deficit looms for aviation, and diesel could be next.
Claiming green energy is cheap is seductive but politically fragile. When it isn't — because of transmission costs, backup generation, or grid limits — the credibility of the whole transition argument collapses. Rory Stewart argues advocates need to own the trade-offs, not deny them.
The IEA calculates that newly deployed renewables save European consumers approximately €33 billion per year on electricity bills. EU grid interconnection saves an additional €30–40 billion compared to 27 isolated national markets. These figures rebut the claim that the green transition is simply an expensive luxury.
Anthony Giddens identified the key paradox of climate politics: humans only mobilise fully when catastrophe becomes undeniable, but by then it is too late to avert it. Jørgensen acknowledges we may already have passed key tipping points — and that even he talks more about prices than planetary survival.
After the interview, Rory and Alastair disagree sharply. Rory argues that insisting green energy is always cheap and that there are no trade-offs makes the argument untrustworthy to ordinary voters and businesses. Alastair counters that pessimism feeds the fossil fuel lobby and that leadership still matters even at 1% of global emissions.
Despite the Trump administration's pro-fossil stance, Texas sets new wind-turbine installation records every year. The economics of renewables are so compelling that even the heartland of American oil culture is deploying them at scale — driven by business logic, not ideology.
The EU's 27 member states are each building their own energy systems without a shared master plan — like assembling a jigsaw without the box. Jørgensen is pushing for the European Commission to gain planning authority to map out the optimal pan-European grid, including cross-border infrastructure funding.
Renewable electricity has transformed passenger cars, but aviation and heavy trucking have no scalable alternative to liquid fuels right now. Europe must secure refinery capacity and maintain strategic reserves while simultaneously accelerating the energy transition — these are not mutually exclusive.
Data centres already consume 2.5% of all EU energy and that share is on course to double within five years. Jørgensen's solution is not to stop building them but to mandate that they use renewable energy and recapture excess heat to warm homes — turning a liability into a grid asset.
Denmark was the EU's biggest oil producer when it decided to stop all future North Sea oil and gas licensing. The economic calculus was straightforward: the investment required to extract dwindling reserves couldn't compete with falling renewable prices. Wind, not oil, is the North Sea's future.
The White House runs a body called the American Energy Dominance Council — its mandate is not subtle. The US has shifted from net importer to net exporter of energy and has a clear interest in keeping European customers buying American LNG. Jørgensen refuses to attribute malice but acknowledges the structural conflict.
Spain was hit hard by gas dependency in 2022 and has since shifted heavily to renewables — its citizens see cheaper bills and back the transition. Italy remains fossil-dependent and pays high prices. The contrast shows that the green argument wins where people experience it, not just where they're told about it.
An energy bill has three components: the raw price of energy, transmission costs, and taxes. The first is physics; the other two are pure political choices. Some EU member states tax electricity four times more than gas — the opposite of what a sensible climate or consumer policy would dictate.
When Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, Denmark had emergency plans ready to force companies to close — by military escort if necessary — to conserve gas for hospitals. Europe sourced 45% of its gas, 50% of its coal, and 27% of its oil from Russia then; today those figures are roughly 10%, 0%, and 3%.
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