Slower driving, working from home, and carpooling are some of the remedies advocated by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in response to what it terms a “global energy crisis” caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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After countries such as Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia prohibited Russian oil imports, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced a 10-point plan to reduce oil consumption.

Among the recommendations include lowering highway speed restrictions by at least 10 kilometres per hour (6 miles per hour), improving public transportation, and instituting car-free Sundays in major cities.

According to IEA executive director Fatih Birol, the moves are intended to relieve pressures on the energy market and lessen the impact of rising oil prices on consumers.

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According to Birol, the steps in advanced economies might help reduce oil consumption by 2.7 million barrels per day ahead of peak demand season.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), created in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis to assure global energy market stability, warned this week that potential large-scale disruptions in oil output were “threatening to create a global oil supply shock” in light of Russia sanctions and consumers increasingly avoiding Russian oil purchases.

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According to the IEA, Russia may soon be compelled to cut crude oil production by 30%, exposing the world economy to the worst supply crisis in decades unless Saudi Arabia and other major energy exporters start pumping more.

The conflict in Ukraine is causing the world’s first global energy crisis, and governments around the world should respond by lowering their use of oil and gas, the head of a prominent international body warned on Friday.

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Leaders in the European Union, which has acquired over 40% of its natural gas and more than a quarter of its crude oil from Russia in recent years, have been pressing residents to conserve energy.

In the United States, Mitch Roth, the mayor of the County of Hawaii, has issued one of the rare conservation pleas, citing the county’s vulnerability to increasing energy prices as a result of President Biden’s prohibition on Russian oil, gas, and coal.

Biden has asked oil companies to increase output to meet demand, and his energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, personally delivered the message to fossil fuel executives assembled in Houston last week.

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Long-term, administration officials argue, the United States must shift away from fossil fuels and invest in more solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources.

Many experts believe that clean energy is the final way to combating global warming and reducing reliance on other countries for energy. However, it cannot be brought online quickly enough to fulfill immediate demand. To make matters worse, countries were already falling well short of the carbon reductions required to satisfy the Paris Agreement, a worldwide pact aimed at averting the worst effects of climate change.