Flame of a gas cooker

The strategy for a Europe without russian gas

Green economy - green bond

Posted by MoneyController on 07.03.2022

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The ongoing war has undoubtedly aggravated the ongoing energy crisis in Europe. There is a growing need to limit European gas imports from Russia and, more generally, to diversify and improve the efficiency of its energy supply sources. In this regard, the International Energy Agency has published a ten-point document to suggest to European countries how to overcome this energy impasse. Here are the ten points.

  1. "No new gas supply contracts with Russia". The Agency recommends not renewing the contract expiring in 2022 with Gazprom, which covers 12% of Europe's needs, i.e. 15 billion cubic metres per year. It is better to diversify by signing contracts with new suppliers.
  2. "Replace Russian supplies with gas from alternative sources". By alternative sources, the paper means, for example, natural liquid gas: in Europe, the potential of gasification plants is only partially exploited. In addition, the gas resources on European soil and the development of biogas and biomethane production should not be forgotten.
  3. "Introduce minimum gas storage obligations to enhance market resilience". More gas stored means preventing emergency situations like the current one, which could even get worse.
  4. "Accelerate the deployment of new wind and solar projects". There would be little to add on this point, except to urge governments to commit, including by simplifying the sector's rules.
  5. "Maximise generation from existing dispatchable low-emissions sources: bioenergy and nuclear". Leaving aside for a moment the issue of nuclear power, which is still controversial in some countries, it is worth remembering that bioenergy plants have only operated at 50% of their actual potential across Europe.
  6. "Enact short-term measures to shelter vulnerable electricity consumers from high prices". Among the most vulnerable consumers are many businesses whose future depends on the price of energy.
  7. "Speed up the replacement of gas boilers with heat pumps". This method would not only save the installer money, by making heating more efficient, but would also save Europe 2 billion cubic metres of gas in a year if the number of heat pumps doubled.
  8. "Accelerate energy efficiency improvements in buildings and industry". An energy improvement of 0.7% of buildings would be enough to save more than 1 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
  9. "Encourage a temporary thermostat adjustment by consumers". At the moment, the heating regulation in Europe is about an average of 22 °C: considering the whole population, for every degree less there would be a reduction in consumption of 10 billion cubic metres.
  10. "Step up efforts to diversify and decarbonise sources of power system flexibility". In other words, one should focus even more on the energy transition.

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