--- title: "The Regional War and the Importance of Renewable Energy | Ghazi Mahmoud" url: https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/2026-04-02-700ad5/ lang: en description: "While challenges related to climate change served as the primary driver of investment in renewable energy over the past two decades, an equally important new challenge has recently emerged, centered on energy security and ensuring the continuity of supplies." --- [All articles](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/) # The Regional War and the Importance of Renewable Energy [Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Dr. Ghazi Mahmoud](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/about/) 2 Apr 2026 · 5 min read [Energy, oil and gas](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/energy/)[Politics and security](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/geo/) While challenges related to climate change served as the primary driver of investment in renewable energy over the past two decades, an equally important new challenge has recently emerged, centered on energy security and ensuring the continuity of supplies. This challenge comes amid escalating geopolitical tensions, particularly the ongoing war between the United States and Israel on one side, and Iran on the other, which has entered its second month, leaving profound repercussions for global energy supplies. In this context, Iran's imposition of restrictions on navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, through which more than 20% of global oil supplies pass, has heightened the risks threatening energy security. Several Western analysts have regarded this as a de facto economic blockade on the oil-producing Arab Gulf states. Consequently, the repercussions of this blockade are not confined to the producing countries, but extend to affect the entire global economy and expose it to severe structural shocks. Some analysts have gone so far as to compare this crisis to the oil crisis the world witnessed in the 1970s, particularly the 1973 Arab oil embargo that targeted the United States and other Western countries over their support for Israel in its war against Egypt and Syria. Current indicators suggest, however, that the present crisis may prove more severe and more complex, given the profound transformations that have taken place in the structure of the global economy. According to a report by The New York Times, supply disruptions and growing risks threatening oil and gas imports from the region, which has traditionally served as a major source supplying the markets of European and Asian countries, have prompted these nations to reconsider their energy mix and turn toward multiple alternatives, including coal, renewable energy (solar and wind), and hydrogen, as well as nuclear power, in order to maintain the stability of the industrial sector and the capacity for long-term planning. Many European and Asian countries are moving toward increasing their investments in wind power, solar power, and other renewable energy sources, in addition to batteries, yet they may also increase their reliance on coal, a low-cost fossil fuel that pollutes the environment, thereby heightening concerns over climate change. Conversely, amid mounting challenges related to climate change and the growing need to transition to more sustainable energy sources, the global arena is witnessing intense competition among various energy production technologies. Multiple options stand out in this context, including nuclear fusion, despite still being under development, and hydrogen alongside natural gas as available sources for power generation capable of further development over the coming decade. These technologies are subject to broad, in-depth debates to determine their capacity to strike a balance between economic viability and environmental requirements, as well as their role in bolstering energy security by offsetting shortfalls resulting from disrupted supplies in an international environment marked by high levels of uncertainty. Notably, solar and wind power grew at a rapid pace during the first half of 2025, enabling them to cover the entire increase in global electricity demand. This allowed renewable energy to surpass coal for the first time as the main source of electricity generation worldwide, according to a report published in October 2025 by Ember Energy, a think tank specializing in energy affairs. As part of efforts to address unfolding developments in oil and gas supplies, the CERAWeek energy conference convened from March 23 to 27, 2026, during the annual CERA week in the US city of Houston, organized by S&P Global, with broad participation from energy sector leaders, policymakers, and executives, to assess the geopolitical repercussions of the current crisis on global energy markets and explore avenues for dealing with it. The discussions highlighted the accelerating shift in energy policy priorities, with security of supply and market stability taking precedence over long-term goals tied to climate change. In this context, several participants noted that excessive reliance on geographically concentrated supply chains, particularly in regions of tension, brings the diversification of energy sources and routes back to the fore as a fundamental pillar of national and international strategies. Despite the attention countries around the world are devoting to securing fossil fuel flows, the conference simultaneously affirmed that renewable energy has not lost its strategic standing, and is instead being put forward as part of the energy security equation rather than merely a tool for curbing climate change. Speakers emphasized that investing in clean energy sources, such as solar, wind, and green hydrogen, helps reduce reliance on sensitive maritime corridors and strengthens states' autonomy in facing external shocks. Conference sessions also addressed the challenges associated with scaling up renewable energy, particularly limited storage infrastructure, fluctuations in output, and the need to modernize power grids. Within this framework, integrated solutions combining conventional and renewable energy were proposed through what are known as "Flexible Energy Mix" approaches, balancing sustainability requirements with guaranteed continuity of supplies. It is clear from the above that the crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran has not led to a retreat in the trajectory of the energy transition so much as recast it within a new equation, whereby the shift to renewable energy is no longer merely an environmental choice, but a strategic imperative dictated by states' national security considerations and the priority of their economic stability, reinforcing the thesis that the center of gravity has shifted from "sustainability" to "energy security" as the primary driver of energy policies at the present stage. Translated from Arabic with AI. [Read it in Arabic](https://ghazimahmoud.com/articles/2026-04-02-700ad5/) ## Published in - [Channel 23](https://ch23.com/Article/350856/حرب-المنطقة-وأهمية-الطاقة-المتجددة) - [Anbaa Online](https://anbaaonline.com/news/321775) - [OZ Arab Media](https://ozarab.media/حرب-المنطقة-وأهمية-الطاقة-المتجددة/) - [Lebanon Files](https://www.lebanonfiles.com/2026/articles/باقلامهم/حرب-المنطقة-وأهمية-الطاقة-المتجددة/) ## More on energy, oil and gas [All articles on this subject](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/energy/) [18 Mar 2026 · A Regional War with Global Economic Repercussions · Channel 23, MTV Lebanon ](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/2026-03-18-c3ba38/) [4 Mar 2026 · The Global Economy in the Crosswinds of the War on Iran · Channel 23, Lebanon Files ](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/2026-03-04-843174/) [5 Feb 2026 · Financial and economic prospects of Lebanese oil wealth · Lebanese National Defense Magazine ](https://ghazimahmoud.com/en/articles/2026-02-05-426d1a/)