⏳ Reading Time: 6 minutesCould the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz become the catalyst needed to move beyond a fossil fuel-based economy and accelerate the energy transition? Today, as Earth Day (22 April) reminds us of the urgency of addressing climate change, those same questions feel more relevant than ever. More than 50 years ago, in the face of another oil crisis, similar questions were already being asked.
In January 1974, European governments introduced measures that evoked wartime economies: car-free Sundays in Germany and the Netherlands, limits on domestic heating in France and the UK, and curfews on illuminated signage.
The energy shock was triggered by a decision from several oil-producing countries to cut crude supply in protest against Western support for Israel following the Yom Kippur War. The economic impact was particularly severe in Europe, but the shift in political and industrial thinking had even more lasting global consequences.
The oil shock exposed a fundamental vulnerability of post-war industrial economies: the assumption that oil – and energy more broadly – would always be available at reasonable prices. Governments and businesses were forced to rethink energy supply, and concepts such as energy security and energy efficiency entered public debate for the first time.
