Europe should dream big and start the gas exit now

(EurActiv, 5 May 2022) True energy independence means a complete phase-out of natural gas from the energy system and its replacement with renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency, write Martin Vladimirov and Kostantsa Rangelova.

Martin Vladimirov is Director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD); Kostantsa Rangelova is Senior Analyst at the Energy and Climate Program at CSD.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put the European energy and climate policies through their most difficult test so far. The spike in energy prices aggravated by the slow pace of energy transition in Europe and the excessive reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports have demonstrated the need for a new European Energy and Climate Security Strategy. One that makes a clear break with fossil fuels in the foreseeable future, including gas, despite appeals to the contrary.

This new vision for developing the European economy should step on a deep cut of natural gas imports from Russia that have continued to finance the Kremlin’s aggression in Europe.

True energy independence means a complete phase-out of natural gas from the energy system and its replacement with renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency. The immediate pressure to shrink Russia’s share of the European energy markets risks a new long-term gas lock-in via LNG imports, some of them from similarly authoritarian countries.

The push for new contracts with alternative suppliers promoted by Germany, Italy and a number of Central and Eastern European countries is at loggerheads with the EU’s green vision and raises the spectre of stranded assets in gas infrastructure after 2035.

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EurActiv, 5 May 2022: Europe should dream big and start the gas exit now

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