About: Gas package 2020
Explainer: Can joint gas buying tackle Europe’s high prices?
The European Union is expected to propose a system this week to allow countries to jointly buy strategic stocks of gas, a measure drawn up in response to soaring energy prices. Benchmark wholesale European gas prices rose by more than...
EU’s upcoming gas reform to address storage, joint procurement
A planned revision of EU gas market legislation, expected on 14 December, will seek to improve access to gas storage facilities and include provisions enabling the joint purchasing of gas stocks, the European Commission has said.
LEAK: EU gas market overhaul puts consumers, hydrogen at the centre
A draft European Commission proposal to overhaul the EU gas market introduces new rights for consumers to choose their supplier but stops short of setting the targets demanded by industry to ramp up the consumption of renewable and low-carbon gases.
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.
Is joint EU gas purchasing really a bad idea?
Rather than going all the way to joint gas purchasing and strategic stocks, a European solidarity mechanism could be done quickly and relatively cheaply to address Europe’s current – and likely future – energy supply problems, argue Christian Egenhofer and Irina Kustova.
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.
Investors renew push for EU methane emissions standard on gas
A group representing European investors managing €36 trillion in assets renewed pressure on the European Commission to introduce mandatory methane emissions standards for natural gas, according to a letter dated 31 March.
Global gas firms target industrial ‘clusters’ for first hydrogen clients
Gas companies in Europe and America are looking at using the existing gas network to serve industrial “clusters” of hydrogen users in sectors like chemicals, cement and steelmaking, adopting a “phased approach” endorsed by the European Commission.
Avoid hydrogen for heating homes, urges energy efficiency coalition
A coalition of 33 business and civil society groups have urged the European Commission to prioritise renewables and energy efficiency over hydrogen as part of Europe’s efforts to decarbonise buildings.
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 plans ‘big increase’ in green gas to meet climate goals
Production of biogas, biomethane and “green” hydrogen will have to skyrocket by at least 1,000% over the next three decades in order to reach the EU’s climate neutrality objective for 2050, an EU official has said.
EU turns to methane emissions in fight against global warming
The European Commission is working on a first-ever methane strategy that could play a “very significant role” in enabling the EU increase its climate ambitions for 2030, EU officials have said.
Timmermans sees ‘pivotal role for hydrogen’ in meeting EU climate goals
The European Commission’s upcoming vice president for the Green Deal received a standing ovation at a forum in Brussels last week after he declared, “I see a pivotal role for hydrogen” in Europe's efforts to achieve its climate goals.
Norwegian scientist: ‘No way’ of reaching climate neutrality without hydrogen
Europe has to get serious about the hydrogen economy if it really wants to reach net-zero emissions as quickly as possible, says Nils Anders Røkke. This is why decarbonised natural gas, using carbon capture and storage (CCS), will be crucial to ramp up hydrogen production in the short term, he argues.
The EU needs to fully unlock the potential of natural gas to deliver its Green Deal
Nord Stream 2 will contribute to achieving the EU's ambitious, climate-friendly energy transition while safeguarding competitiveness, affordability and prosperity for European households and businesses.
Future of gas
Last year, the European Commission started working on a new package of legislation for the gas sector. With the "European Green Deal" now coming up, and updated climate targets in the pipeline, the initiative is set to take a new dimension, focusing on decarbonisation strategies for 2030 and 2050.
Europeans confront biomethane cost reduction challenge
Biomethane production costs are expected to fall in the coming decade as more biogas plants come on stream. But analysts warn that massive cost reductions like in the solar and wind power sector are unlikely and policy measures will be needed to prop up this fledgeling renewable energy industry.
Biomethane in the EU
Biogas production remains tiny at the moment in Europe, but the industry has big plans for the future, provided costs can be lowered and environmental issues addressed. In this special report, EURACTIV looks into the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
‘We need this dinosaur’: EU lifts veil on gas decarbonisation strategy
As the new European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen prepares to take office, one of its key priorities will be to deliver on a new market design for gas that will have EU decarbonisation objectives at its core. And natural gas of fossil origin will play a significant part, officials say.
Dutch urge swift EU hydrogen push to cut industry, transport emissions
The European Commission should create an EU-wide market for hydrogen “as soon as possible” rather than wait for renewable energy-based varieties to be commercially available, a top Dutch ministerial envoy has said.
Gas storage vies for central role in EU quest for carbon neutrality
European gas storage sites have much to offer in the energy transition, providing a readily available platform to carry new low-carbon gases like hydrogen. What’s not clear yet is whether those gases can be produced in sufficient quantity to significantly cut carbon emissions.
11 EU countries snub Romanian Presidency’s gas declaration
The European Commission, backed by 11 EU member states, refused to sign a declaration on “sustainable and smart gas infrastructure” tabled by the Romanian Presidency earlier this week because the text wasn’t ambitious enough on climate change, EURACTIV has learned.
Gas network chief: ‘By 2050, we assume CO2 emissions from energy will be zero’
Europe’s electricity and gas operators are currently working on a joint network plan based on a carbon budget which includes zero-emission scenarios for 2050. “And that automatically means there will be no fossil gas in the mix by then,” Jan Ingwersen told EURACTIV in an interview.