“In late November, the fragility of a weather-dependent energy system went on display as temperatures dropped and the demand for space heating surged. This is a predictable feature of life in the Northern Hemisphere, yet European energy policy seems perpetually surprised by it (…) This is the ‘Dunkelflaute’ – the dark doldrums – about which engineers have warned for years. Wind generation plummeted by 20%. Operators of the power grid, needing a backup source to avoid blackouts, turned not to batteries, which remain woefully inadequate for the job. Instead, they harnessed a workhorse of today’s energy systems: natural gas. Gas-fired generation surged by more than 40% to fill the void left by stalled wind turbines.(…) Imagine the catastrophe if Europe had achieved its net-zero goals and eliminated its gas infrastructure. There is no battery system on Earth, existing or planned, that could deploy the equivalent of 220 nuclear reactors.” Vijay Jayaraj, Cold, Green Europe: What Happens When Ideology Trumps Physics, in: Real Clear Markets, 16.12.2025