Lomborg op-ed: Germany’s Sunshine Daydream

For three decades, climate campaigners have fought to make fossil fuels so expensive that people would be forced to abandon them. Their dream is becoming reality: Energy prices are spiraling out of control and will soon get even worse. Yet we are no closer to solving climate change.

The electric car industry is elated with an incoming Biden administration because it promises to extend and increase electric car subsidies to fix climate change.

Similarly, leaders across the rich world promise lavish carrots along with sticks to outlaw petrol cars. This week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Unfortunately, electric cars will achieve only tiny emissions savings at a very high price.

Tens of millions of Bangladeshis have gained access to electricity over recent years. In 2000, just 32 percent of the population had electricity access; today that figure stands at nearly 60 percent, according to the World Bank.

Yet the national energy sector still lags behind many of its neighbours, and the power Bangladesh manages to generate is unreliable - blackouts and shortages cost an estimated 0.5 percent of GDP annually. What are the smartest ways to bring reliable energy to more Bangladeshis?