RTTue, 21 Jun 2022 10:25 UTC
© Geneva SolutionsUrsula von der Leyen has the answer: Just dial it down.
The EU could conserve energy in order to completely compensate for Russian gas from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.
"If we... decrease the heating in Europe by two degrees, or the cooling, less air conditioning, this would compensate for the whole delivery [from] Nord Stream 1," von der Leyen told
The Irish Times, referring to the Baltic Sea pipeline that delivers gas from Russia to Germany.
The commission chief said
Brussels has emergency plans to mitigate the impact of any disruptions of the supply, which include conserving energy and prioritizing needs. "It's a lot of work still. And the circumstances are serious."
Russian gas company Gazprom reduced the flow via Nord Stream 1,
citing technical issues.The EU plans to phase out Russian gas by 2030 as part of the response to Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, which was launched in late February. However, several countries, including Germany, have repeatedly warned that their economies would suffer if the flow of gas stops immediately.
Last week, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck once again called on people and businesses to cut back on their energy use. "The time to do this has arrived," he said. "Every kilowatt-hour helps in this situation."
Habeck later said that more gas must be pumped into storage facilities and that coal-fired power plants have to be used to backfill the energy needed to generate electricity. The Netherlands and Austria said they would also lift restrictions on coal-burning.
Reuters reported that Italy may declare a state of alert on gas this week, which would trigger measures aimed at reducing gas consumption.
Comment: Gas diversification is the new plan including burning anything!
Czech Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Security Vaclav Bartuška has promised his country will do everything in its power to generate heat and electricity if gas supplies run low this winter.
"We basically have a repeat of the 1973 oil shock ... If there is a gas cut out this winter, we will burn anything we can to keep our people warm and to make electricity."
According to the official, it is still possible to provide the EU with gas before the heating season if European countries sign long-term contracts with LNG suppliers. The European Commission has been uneager to sign them in the past, but, according to Bartuška, the situation has changed.
"You would not hear that from the commissioner a year ago, or half a year ago, or four months ago. There's a clear understanding on their side that the member states need to survive, the governments need to survive the winter."
Bartuška added that, during his country's EU presidency, the bloc's main goal will be to fill gas storage facilities with enough supplies in the run-up to the winter heating season. Prague will also focus on promoting joint purchases of gas and intends to fast-forward the implementation of the European Commission's REPowerEU plan, which is set to reduce the EU's dependence on Russian gas by two thirds before the end of the year and push the EU's transition to 'green' energy.
According to the ambassador, the latter move has already been set in motion, and the soaring energy prices and political troubles can actually help the EU achieve its climate targets.
"Many decisions are made by people themselves. Do you think people will buy gas heaters at the moment? Probably not," he stated, adding that his country has recently seen a "huge increase" in the number of heat pumps and solar collectors installed in the Czech Republic over the past several months.
"The transition will be hard and complicated, but we will win. And the winners will be green technologies. It will just take some time and, five years from now, we will be basically asking why we burned natural gas to make electricity."
Positive spins for negative results. Foolery.
Comment: Gas diversification is the new plan including burning anything! Positive spins for negative results. Foolery.