Blackout: The energy crisis looming over Europe and the rest of the world

People hold up a banner reading "Open Nord Stream 2 immediately" during a right-wing protest against increasing energy prices and rising living expenses in Leipzig, Germany, on September 05, 2022.

A view of Cologne Cathedral after lights were switched off as an energy-saving measure, in an effort to reduce dependence on imported natural gas from Russia in Cologne, Germany, on September 01, 2022. Measures include turning off lights on public monuments between 10 pm and 6 am. Public buildings will not be heated more than 19 degrees Celsius, and hot water will be switched off in these buildings, with the exception of hospitals and social facilities.

Empty chairs at a closed municipal swimming pool. The entrance has a sign that translates to "due to the energy crisis, your aquatic center is temporarily closed", in Meudon, on the south-western outskirts of Paris, France, September 06, 2022.

Workers restart the installations at the Emile-Huchet thermal power and combined gas plant located in Saint-Avold and Carling, eastern France on September 12, 2022. Initially shut down in late March 2022, the Emile-Huchet plant is powering up again to meet France's energy demands, as the country faces an energy crisis with several of its nuclear power plants under repair and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Residents of a high-rise building use mobile phones to illuminate their path as they descend the stairs in the dark during a blackout in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 20, 2022. Blackouts—a long-term problem in South Africa—reached a new level in recent months, affecting every facet of daily life.

A teacher plays with children at the Kleiner Fratz child daycare center in Neukoelln on September 14, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. Child daycare centers across Germany are facing rising costs for energy and food as well as a shortage of staff. At the Kleiner Fratz center, instalment payments for energy have gone up 50 percent and food prices 9 percent, yet the amount of money the center receives from the city per child has been unchanged.
 

A man levels the coal before covering the trailer parked outside the Sobieski coal mine in Poland. People are queueing up for days for coal at mines, following an embargo on Russian coal, which led to an eight million tonne coal deficit and price rises. The lack of coal in the Polish market is due to the decarbonisation process where domestic production was reduced and the market needs were supplemented with imports from Russia.
 

An employee works in the bakehouse of the Bonert bakery in Munich, Germany, on September 15, 2022. Rising energy prices are taking a toll on German bakeries that are heavily dependent on gas and electricity, threatening the existence of many small family businesses and the affordability of this key staple food in Germany.

In this video grab taken from footage broadcast by the UK Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) via the Parliament TV website on September 8, 2022, packed benches in the Commons chamber listen as Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss opens a debate on energy costs in the UK, in the House of Commons in central London. The new British Prime Minister is expected to unveil a costly plan to freeze domestic fuel bills to help ease the burden of a soaring cost-of-living crisis.

Protesters Tracey Booker (left) and Pauline Jones, with dog Lizzie, at a fracking site in Little Plumpton, near Blackpool, England, on September 8, 2022. A ban on fracking in England has been lifted as the government pushes for an increase in domestic energy production in the face of soaring bills. Prime Minister Liz Truss has said the controversial move to end the moratorium, which was imposed in 2019 after tremors were caused by fracking in Lancashire, could get gas flowing from onshore shale wells in as little as six months.

Indonesian students during a protest against fuel price hike in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 5, 2022. The Indonesian government raised the price of subsidised fuels by about 30 percent following an increase in oil prices worldwide.

Lorenzo Pinamonte, owner of Hotel Nettuno, walks past electricity bills he has displayed in protest of the near-600 percent price hike in his last month’s electricity bill compared to the same period last year, in Brenzone Sul Garda, Italy, September 13, 2022. Increasing number of businesses in Italy are facing bankruptcy due to the  rise in power costs.

The Seitelo family waits for electricity to come back to finish cooking during a blackout in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 20, 2022. Blackouts reached a new level of crisis in recent months as the state-owned power supplier, Eskom, is crippled by dilapidated plants and corruption

Hit by unsustainable cost of living, people queue for free food at non-profit association Pane Quotidiano in Milan, Italy on August 31, 2022. According to ISTAT, Italy’s office for national statistics, 1.9 million Italian households, and 5.6 million individuals were in absolute poverty last year, beating the previous record in 2020, the year of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.