bneGREEN: Think tanks say total halt to EU Russian gas imports possible by 2025
The EU can stop Russian gas imports by 2025 / Bellona
By Richard Lockhart in Edinburgh
March 25, 2022
The EU stands a good chance of replacing 100% of its gas imports by 2025 without resorting to coal or new gas import infrastructure.
The EU will be able to replace 101bn cubic metres per year, or two-thirds, of Russian gas by 2025 by delivering the existing EU Fit for 55 package and by accelerating the deployment of renewable electricity, energy efficiency and electrification, think tanks Ember, E3G, Bellona and RAP said a briefing.
This follows initial statement from the EU that it would reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two thirds before the end of 2022. The new briefing described how it can call a total halt to gas imports by 2025.
However, there is no time to lose, and the think tanks warned that an urgent uplift in policy was now required to achieve the targets by 2025.
The briefing said that the remaining 51 bcm per year that Russian currently supplies can be replaced by gas sourced from existing assets, without the need for the construction of new LNG import or pipeline capacity.
The think tanks, following the lead of the IEA earlier in March, drafted a 10-point plan to end imports of Russian gas by 2025.
In terms of policy, the EU must implement fully and indeed fast-track its Fit for 55 Package, and drive forward the existing Renewables Directive, Energy Efficiency Directive, Emissions Trading System and the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive.
The EU must also hurry clarify its financial resources to support clean energy solutions and to begin injecting cash as soon as possible.
The briefing also calls for improvement in energy efficiency, and for an end to any legacy policies or subsidies that support gas consumption, such as support for new gas heating systems at home or subsidies for new gas infrastructure industry.
Other technology to be supported includes heat pumps, new flexible grid infrastructure and demand managements technology.
Revenues from subsidies or from carbon taxes or windfall profit taxes should also be ring-fenced for renewables projects.
The briefing also urged the creation of a European Commission task force to root out bottlenecks in supply chains and to streamline efforts across the EU.
bneGREEN
The first week of COP28 has ended, and climate diplomats must now hammer out the final agreements.
Climate change has pushed the world into a precarious position concerning numerous planetary 'tipping points,' according to an extensive scientific evaluation completed by over 200 researchers.
Sultan al-Jaber, the oil executive who is leading the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, has rocked the conference with highly controversial remarks that there is “no science” that phasing out fossil fuels is necessary.
Releases study showing 360,000 people could die prematurely before the end of the century because of global heating caused by companies’ 2022 greenhouse gas emissions alone.
Goal is to expedite energy transition and facilitate the deployment of 1.7 GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030.
SELECT `n`.`nid` AS `id`, `n`.`title`, 'bne IntelliNews' AS authors, 'bne IntelliNews' AS bylines, `wc`.`field_website_callout_value` AS `summary`, `smc`.`field_social_media_callout_value` AS `social`, `pd`.`published_at` AS `date`, `p`.`field_publication__tid` AS `publication_id`, `fm`.`uri` AS `image`, `fspcaption`.`field_story_photo_caption_value` AS `image_credit`, `fspcredit`.`field_story_photo_credit_value` AS `image_author`, `ws`.`field_website_sections_tid` AS `section_id`, `fdfs`.`field_subject_tid` AS `subject_id`, `db`.`body_value` AS `body`, `fm2`.`uri` AS `pdf`, `et`.`field_enable_tracking_value` AS `tracking`, `ht`.`field_head_tags_value` AS `headTags`, `bt`.`field_body_tags_value` AS `bodyTags` FROM `node` AS `n`
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_website_callout` AS `wc` ON wc.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_social_media_callout` AS `smc` ON smc.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `publication_date` AS `pd` ON pd.nid = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_publication_` AS `p` ON p.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_story_picture` AS `sp` ON sp.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `file_managed` AS `fm` ON fm.fid = sp.field_story_picture_fid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_story_photo_caption` AS `fspcaption` ON fspcaption.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_story_photo_credit` AS `fspcredit` ON fspcredit.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `workflow_node` AS `wn` ON wn.nid = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_website_sections` AS `ws` ON ws.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_subject` AS `fdfs` ON fdfs.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_body` AS `db` ON db.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_file` AS `ff` ON ff.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `file_managed` AS `fm2` ON fm2.fid = ff.field_file_fid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_enable_tracking` AS `et` ON et.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_head_tags` AS `ht` ON ht.entity_id = n.nid
LEFT JOIN `field_data_field_body_tags` AS `bt` ON bt.entity_id = n.nid WHERE (n.status = 1) AND (n.type = 'article') AND (n.nid = 239177) AND (wn.sid= 3) AND (p.field_publication__tid IN (2465,2851,3184,3159,3266,3264,3270,3265,3267,3268,3269,3171,3168,3185,3170,1346,1345,3180,3175,3254,3249,1207,1208,3181,3231,3177,3186,3178,1003,3187,2975,3204,3198,3188,3202,3196,3250,3189,3160,3161,3312,3313,3173,3314,3315,3167,3259,3257,3263,3258,3260,3261,3262,3174,3316,3165,3192,3163,3282,3190,2811,3256,3317,3162,3318,3191,3297,3182,3179,3166,3319,3376,3320,3172,3255,3169,1008,3203,3197,3321,3252,3164,1307,3322,3183,3220,3176,3201,3323,1327,1020,1006,1009,1013,1014,1018,1005,1328,1010,1011,1002,1012,1311,1330,1017,1016,1019,1004,1001,1334,1335,1336,1015,1337,1338,1339,1340,1341,2496,2501,2517,2529,2506,2505,2524,2513,2526,2537,2489,2490,2520,2536,2488,2532,2500,2515,2503,2493,2527,2523,2510,2525,2498,2499,2528,2507,2487,2511,2521,2502,2491,2519,2497,2492,2514,2495,2509,2512,1629,3358)) LIMIT 1