“Back To The Old Days”: Europeans Panic Buy Firewood And Stoves

As natural gas and electricity prices soar, many European households turn to firewood, a move to offset higher energy costs as the heating season begins. Rising demand for firewood is sending much of Europe back to the ‘medieval’ days of using stoves and fireplaces to heat homes.

The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline system underneath the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany sparked even more energy uncertainty among Germans as many brace for what could be the coldest and possibly even the darkest winter in a generation due to rising risks of power blackouts.

On Friday, European Union leaders failed to agree on a price cap for NatGas as the energy crisis might worsen this winter as freezing weather could quickly draw down supplies from storage facilities and catapult prices even higher.

About 70% of Europeans use NatGas to heat their homes, and according to Bloomberg, some 40 million people are now burning wood to heat their homes. New demand for a heat source that’s been around for ages has doubled the price of wood pellets per ton to 600 euros in France.

Bloomberg pointed out Europeans are “panic buying the world’s most basic fuel.” Demand is so high that Hungary banned exports of wood pellets, and Romania capped firewood prices through spring. – READ MORE