Future of gas
Europe’s gas decarbonisation package: Putting new wine in old wineskins?
The best gas package that the European Commission can come up with may not be a gas package at all, but rather an integrated system package that creates opportunities for competing energy sources to meet end-uses, write Megan Anderson and Jan Rosenow.
Dangerous liaisons: requesting additional gas from Russia will be politically sensitive
EU institutions have limited room to manoeuvre when it comes to going to Russia with requests for more gas in order to alleviate the energy crisis and help Europe get through the winter, warns Andrei Belyi.
The only quick-fix to Europe’s energy price crisis is saving energy
Faced with rising energy prices, the only thing Europe can quickly do to prevent a potentially difficult winter is to actively promote energy conservation in both the residential and industrial sectors, write Simone Tagliapietra and Georg Zachmann.
The energy crisis shows fossil gas is not dependable
The energy crisis will be painful for many Europeans and emergency measures are needed to ensure gas keeps flowing to keep people warm for the next few months. But the EU must also recognise that this is good money thrown after bad, writes Jonathan Gant.
EU must end fossil fuel heating by 2025
Ecodesign and energy labelling will deliver a third of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions target – but the European Commission is dodging the chance to set heating on the right path, by greenlighting the sale of polluting gas boilers beyond 2030, write Mélissa zill and Davide Sabbadin.
EU methane rules must cover the entire gas supply chain, including imports
A group of environmental organisations and global energy companies, including Shell, have called for mandatory EU rules on methane encompassing the entire gas value chain, including imports from abroad, writes Maarten Wetselaar.
How to regulate hydrogen networks
The need for regulating networks for transporting hydrogen is becoming increasingly urgent, but the legislation needs to be designed in a way to give the market flexibility to overcome the challenges ahead, writes Noé van Hulst.
Greek fires: Blaming climate change is only the start, phasing out fossil fuels is the rest
If Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is to help save Greece – and the planet – from the climate emergency, the changes his government must make are dramatic, writes Jonathan Gant.
Decarbonising natural gas requires regulatory reform
The EU’s upcoming hydrogen and gas market decarbonisation package needs to address an array of key questions, including redirecting subsidies away from fossil fuels towards cleaner and renewable gases, argue scholars from the Stockholm Environment Institute.
Rugby, and the art of regulating energy in times of uncertainty
A recent decision by the Belgian energy regulator offers an unexpected analogy with the way rugby rules were rewritten to favour try scoring and greater entertainment for the fans, write Dominic Scott and Bram Claeys.
Natural gas bashing is trendy, but is it constructive?
Surely, natural gas, too, will have to be phased out over time, so why not skip this phase and move straight to wind and solar? The idea sounds enticing, but upon closer examination, it is counterproductive if not self-defeating, argues Olga Bielkova.
Adaptation: a backdoor to the sustainable finance taxonomy for fossil gas?
While all eyes have been fixed on the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy’s climate change mitigation threshold, the parallel process for climate adaptation has received less attention – to potential detrimental effects, writes Jonas Helseth.
Oil and gas have been hit dramatically by COVID, speeding the transition out of them
COVID-19 has had a wide-ranging impact on oil and gas, with estimates showing that oil demand could peak as early as 2025, rather than 2040, and that gas will be a much shorter bridge into renewables, writes Simon Redmond and Elena Anankina.
Dangerous pipedream: how funding fossil gas risks blowing apart the EU Green Deal
MEPs should uphold the Green Deal and vote against subsidising gas in the upcoming Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs vote, writes Jeremy Wates and Magda Stoczkiewicz.
Can Germany’s hydrogen strategy deliver on its green premises?
The German government has found the right premises for its hydrogen strategy by recognising that only green hydrogen supply, made from renewable energies, is sustainable, writes Felix Heilmann. But there are also shortcomings, he says.
Nord Stream 2: New decisions and clear consequences
On 15 May, the German regulator rejected an application from the gas import pipeline Nord Stream 2 for a derogation from new EU rules. Kim Talus looks at the ongoing judicial proceedings and the consequences of the decision.
Why the European Green Deal needs strong methane regulations
Oil and gas companies throughout the supply chain need to do much more to bring down methane emissions immediately. And they can, writes Maarten Wetselaar.
Sustainable green hydrogen requires binding criteria
The absence of legally binding requirements for green hydrogen could lead to adverse effects, for example, rising CO2 emissions if partly fossil-based electricity is used in synthetic fuel production, write Corinna Klessmann, Jonas Schröder and Felix von Blücher.
Unilateral sanctions targeting Russia come at cost to transatlantic relationship
US sanctions designed to undermine Russian natural gas exports to Europe specifically target European-based companies at the risk of further weakening an already fragile US-European relationship, write Martin Jirušek and Robert Dillon.
Renewable gases bring European jobs that cannot be outsourced
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.
EU’s climate credibility rests on tackling methane emissions from gas
EU methane legislation is not just a nice-to-have. Europe cannot meet its 2030 and 2050 targets, nor ensure the success of the Paris Agreement without it, writes Poppy Kelesi.
EU-wide innovation support is key to electrolysis in Europe
The German government should support the establishment of an EU-wide framework for green hydrogen to keep electrolysis manufacturing competitive, write Matthias Deutsch and Andreas Graf. Matthias Deutsch is a senior associate at Agora Energiewende, a German think tank and policy...Special ReportPromoted content
No future for gas without greening as soon as possible
In the search for alternatives to fossil fuels, gas as an energy vector has the capacity to play a decisive role. To do this, it is absolutely necessary to green our gas as much as possible, writes Jean-François Carenco.