Importierte Materialien sind beherrschbar, importierte Energie bepreist Volkswirtschaften neu - CleanTechnica

The article from CleanTechnica analyzes the 2022 European gas crisis, emphasizing that its core issue was not general import dependence or shortages of industrial inputs, but the reliance on an imported energy source—natural gas—that set marginal prices in electricity and heating markets. Although gas was not the dominant energy source, its position as the marginal fuel meant that soaring gas prices triggered widespread increases in electricity and heating costs, leading to inflation, fiscal interventions by governments totaling hundreds of billions of euros, and tighter monetary policies. Unlike industrial inputs such as iron or ammonia, whose price shocks affect specific sectors, energy prices propagate rapidly and broadly through wholesale markets, consumer tariffs, and industrial contracts, impacting the entire economy. The crisis demonstrated that physical supply shortages were managed through demand reduction, storage withdrawals, and alternative supplies, but the economic damage stemmed from price spikes. Governments had to implement price caps and subsidies to prevent social and industrial collapse because energy prices simultaneously affect all economic actors. This dynamic has implications for hydrogen's role