8 Mar 2026
War and sustainability
War is the most destructive and unsustainable of all human activities. But it can bring change. In Ukraine it has led to major move to renewable energy for security but with the side benefit of reducing air pollution that causes climate change. Part of Russia’s war strategy is to destroy Ukraine’s energy systems with bombs and missiles so people will be forced to live in the cold and dark. Ukraine’s energy comes mainly from big power plants which are easy targets. In an effort to be more resilient Ukraine is working hard to build a wide array of power generators using solar, wind and biomass. The result will be a large number of decentralized power sources so it will be much more difficult to knock out power to a large number of people at once. Ironically war may speed up Ukraine’s green energy transition.