From Hormuz to Space: How the US-Iran War Is Reshaping the Future of Energy.
The United States–Iran conflict is not merely a regional security crisis. It is exposing how deeply the global economy still depends on fossil fuels, vulnerable maritime chokepoints, and energy systems designed for the 20th century — while accelerating the search for alternatives, from green energy and new trade corridors to futuristic concepts involving the space economy and extraterrestrial energy resources.
As fuel prices surge and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz continue to shake global markets, discussions are also intensifying around nuclear fusion, helium-3, space mining, and the use of artificial intelligence to manage future industries beyond Earth. Advocates of alternative energy and climate action are reorganizing amid growing concerns over supply disruptions and future energy crises.
At the same time, the global trade map itself is undergoing profound changes. Instability around the Strait of Hormuz has accelerated the race toward alternative economic corridors — from IMEC, backed by India, the United States, and Western allies, to Chinese, Turkish, and African initiatives seeking to bypass geopolitical risk zones.
Yet beyond trade itself, the crisis highlights how dependent humanity remains on fragile transportation and energy systems built around fossil fuels and vulnerable shipping routes. Modern wars are no longer measured only in tanks and missiles, but also in the ability to secure energy supplies, trade corridors, and stable supply chains.
Together, these developments — the search for alternative energy and the race for new trade corridors — are becoming a wake-up call for a world seeking greater stability, resilience, and sustainability.
Last week, the Santa Marta Climate Conference convened in Colombia, where 57 countries agreed to accelerate efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Collectively, the participating nations represent more than half of global GDP, nearly one-third of global energy demand, and roughly one-fifth of worldwide fossil fuel production. Among them are major energy producers such as Nigeria, Mexico, Brazil, Angola, and Canada. More than 2,800 representatives of civil society organizations, climate scientists, Indigenous leaders, and environmental activists also attended the conference.
The paradox is striking: many of the world’s largest polluters were absent, while the ongoing and unpredictable confrontation between the United States and Iran is precisely what makes the global energy debate more urgent than ever.
Even before the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, both The New York Times and The Guardian published reports describing the efforts of the administration of Donald Trump to resist climate and sustainability policies.
According to those reports, the administration has not only sought to slow the transition to renewable energy within the United States, but has also pressured other countries to continue relying on oil, natural gas, and coal. Washington has threatened retaliatory measures against countries supporting international agreements aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, while also joining oil-producing states in efforts to weaken negotiations on reducing plastic pollution.
Still, the Santa Marta Climate Conference is not attempting to replace UN climate summits. Rather, it signals that many countries are no longer willing to wait for full global consensus before taking action.
France, for example, unveiled a national roadmap to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045, and natural gas by 2050. Colombia released draft estimates suggesting that reducing fossil fuel use by 90% by 2050 could generate approximately $280 billion in economic benefits over the coming decades. The state of California also participated in the conference — a move widely interpreted as political defiance toward the federal administration.
Alongside discussions about alternative energy and trade corridors, another question is gradually entering the global conversation: could Earth’s recurring energy crises eventually push humanity to rethink its future beyond Earth itself?
The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS and the growing discussion surrounding the future space economy are reviving interest in subjects such as heavy water, helium-3, nuclear propulsion, and the future of energy production.
Using observations from ALMA Observatory, researchers recently reported unusually high deuterium-to-hydrogen ratios in 3I/ATLAS — ratios suggesting formation in an extremely cold and radiation-poor environment.
For scientists, this offers clues about the history of another solar system. But for strategists and long-term planners, another question emerges: if deuterium- and helium-3-rich bodies are common throughout the universe, could they one day become valuable energy resources?
Helium-3 is considered one of the most promising fuels for future nuclear fusion technologies, while deuterium is already used in heavy-water nuclear reactors. Although Nuclear fusion remains far from full commercial deployment, the combination of deuterium and helium-3 could eventually open new possibilities for clean energy production.
In the future, some energy produced in space — through fusion facilities, space-based solar systems, or lunar resources — could potentially be transmitted back to Earth through advanced storage systems or even laser- and microwave-based energy beams, concepts already being explored in several research programs worldwide.
If the energy and trade crises of recent years continue, ideas once considered futuristic may gradually become part of mainstream strategic thinking.
This is also where the economics of space begin to change dramatically. Today, almost everything sent into space must be launched from Earth at enormous cost. Yet space itself naturally provides some of the rarest and most expensive industrial conditions to recreate on Earth:
-Extreme cold for cryogenic storage
Natural vacuum conditions for manufacturing.
-Low gravity for mining and transportation.
-Massive ice reserves that can be converted into water, oxygen, and hydrogen.
In other words, the future space economy may depend less on transporting resources from Earth and more on producing them locally in space itself.
From this perspective, several future possibilities emerge:
-Mining frozen bodies in the solar system for water, oxygen, and fuel
Robotic spacecraft capable of producing their own fuel from ice resources and continuing onward missions.
-Combining lunar helium-3 with deuterium for future fusion energy systems.
-Artificial intelligence is also likely to play a major role in these systems. Mining, maintenance, navigation, and material processing across vast distances cannot rely on constant human control from Earth.
Autonomous systems may become the first workforce of extraterrestrial industry.
None of this means that 3I/ATLAS or the Moon are ready-made fuel stations.
The engineering challenges remain enormous: autonomous mining, long-term storage, system durability, and interception speeds in deep space.
But history sometimes begins with a signal — not with a solution.
Perhaps the greatest value of 3I/ATLAS and similar objects lies not only in what they reveal about the past of distant solar systems, but in what they may suggest about humanity’s possible future.
Rafi Glick is a writer, lecturer, farmer, and business executive with decades of experience at the intersection of academia, technology, agriculture, and international trade.
• He has served as a Senior Teaching Associate at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Ono Academic College, Ariel University, Ruppin Academic Center, and as a guest lecturer at Sofia University’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA). At Ben-Gurion University he also advised the BGU–NHSA Accelerator in the Faculty of Science.
• In business, Rafi was CEO of Bidsnet Ltd., a pioneer in deploying fiber-optic cables through unconventional infrastructure (in partnership with CableRunner), delivering high-speed connectivity to homes, enterprises, institutions, and cellular networks. Earlier he held senior roles at ECI Telecom and served on the board of RLF Venture Capital, working with partners such as Intel, Teva, and the Jerusalem Development Authority.
• He contributed extensively to Israel’s trade and investment ecosystem: he directed industrial and agricultural technology divisions at the Israel Export Institute, founded Israel’s AGRITECH as international exhibition, and served on the board of the Israeli Investment Center at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
• In his early career, Rafi established and served as the first director of the Cargo and Aircraft Supply Security Department in the Security Division at Ben-Gurion Airport (1972–1976). He lived in Kibbutz Parod until 1974.
• Rafi has also been recognized for his writing: in 2008 he was named Best Economic Blogger by TheMarker, Israel’s leading business daily.
• Today he continues to publish essays and commentary—with a special passion for astrophysics, space exploration, technology, economics, and social issues.
From Kibbutz Parod to the global stage, Rafi Glick’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to building connections—between people, industries, and ideas.
Email: rafi.glick@gmail.com