Gollakota Anjani R K, Shu Chi-Min
Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliu 64002, Taiwan ROC.
Gondwana Res. 2023 Feb;114:93-116. doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2022.01.014. Epub 2022 Feb 4.
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was extended to 213 countries globally by August 2021. The world has been threatened by rising infection rates and emerged as the catastrophic event in the field of health triggering the international emergency panic button. COVID-19's sudden arrival wreaked havoc on the world economic picture, particularly in the energy sector. A steep drop in oil prices, as well as an imbalance in energy, was the result of strict travel restrictions, fewer transportation options, and people's fears of a flu pandemic. However, confined mobility and a drop in energy demand coated the environment with a silver line and drowned the nation's economic opportunities. Industrial transport, and not to mention every conventional energy-related thing, is completely devastated, but renewables were immunized. Wind, solar, hydrothermal, hydrogen, biomass-based energy systems were on high gear yielding maximum results in counterbalancing the demand-supply chain. Moreover, the pandemic created an opportunity to showcase the importance of renewable energy and tackle the difficult emergency like now. In addition to this, the mindset of the investors was slowly fading away from conventional fuels and shifting towards renewable energy. However, it is too early to state the booming renewables at the moment, and no idea about its long-time survival. Thus, the present review gives a clear picture of the current status of fossils and renewables, the impact of a pandemic, energy investments, government policy standings, threats, and opportunities, and finally, the key takeaways avoiding energy scarcity in once a lifetime disaster situation.
截至2021年8月，新型冠状病毒（2019-nCoV）已蔓延至全球213个国家。不断上升的感染率对世界构成了威胁，成为引发国际紧急恐慌的重大卫生事件。新冠疫情的突然爆发对世界经济形势造成了严重破坏，尤其是能源领域。严格的旅行限制、交通方式减少以及人们对流感大流行的恐惧导致油价大幅下跌以及能源失衡。然而，有限的流动性和能源需求下降也带来了一线希望，减少了国家的经济机会。工业运输乃至所有传统能源相关行业都遭到重创，但可再生能源却未受影响。风能、太阳能、水热、氢能、生物质能系统全力运转，在平衡供需链方面取得了最大成效。此外，疫情为展示可再生能源的重要性以及应对当前这样的紧急情况创造了机会。除此之外，投资者的观念正逐渐从传统燃料转向可再生能源。然而，目前称可再生能源蓬勃发展还为时过早，且其能否长期存续尚不明朗。因此，本综述清晰呈现了化石能源和可再生能源的当前状况、疫情的影响、能源投资、政府政策立场、威胁与机遇，以及在这一毕生难遇的灾难形势下避免能源短缺的关键要点。
