Renewable gases bring European jobs that cannot be outsourced

(EurActiv, 9 Jan 2020) Deployment of renewable gases will bring the local job opportunities the new Commission is striving for in the European Green Deal, write Wouter Terlouw and Thibaud Lemercier.

Wouter Terlouw and Thibaud Lemercier are managing consultants at Navigant, a Guidehouse company. Navigant supports the Gas for Climate consortium on their vision on the role of gas infrastructure in a decarbonised energy system.

The European Green Deal is about cutting emissions, yet also about creating jobs and boosting innovation, Commission President Von der Leyen stressed in her press statement and presentation in the European Parliament on 11 December.

Becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent requires us to start implementing low-carbon technologies now. Renewable gases are essential to achieving a climate-neutral EU energy system by 2050 and in addition, can bring those local employment opportunities the Commission is looking for.

Positive job impact

Today, the EU biogas sector represents 71,000 jobs in Europe that are difficult to outsource.

And this is only the beginning. In an analysis  for the Gas for Climate consortium, Navigant, a Guidehouse company, shows that scaling up renewable gases in the EU can create 1.7 million to 2.4 million jobs by 2050, of which 600,000 to 850,000 would be direct jobs.

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EurActiv, 9 Jan 2020: Renewable gases bring European jobs that cannot be outsourced