About: natural gas Archives

As the European Commission starts endorsing national recovery plans submitted by EU countries, campaigners are growing concerned that the EU executive may not fully enforce the fund's green spending target.

The European Commission last week published an updated methodology to assess which gas infrastructure projects will be eligible to receive EU funding, triggering warnings by environmental groups and a senior member of the European Parliament.

The EU's 27 energy ministers on Friday (11 June) came to an uneasy compromise on the revision of EU rules covering investments in cross-border energy infrastructure, the so-called TEN-E regulation. The fraught debate sets an unwelcome precedent for future debates over gas.

While fossil gas is often seen as a transition fuel towards a fully decarbonised energy mix, GE Gas Power sees low-carbon gas as “a destination technology” with a potential to convert power plants to run 100% on clean hydrogen by 2030.

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.

Europe must not allow the push to tackle energy poverty to be derailed by the mirage of heating homes with hydrogen. Instead, the EU should focus on energy efficiency and financial support for poor households to switch to clean energy, write Jan Rosenow and Louise Sunderland.

The hard line defended by France over the inclusion of nuclear power in the green finance taxonomy is a dead end because there is no majority in favour of it at the EU level, warns lawmaker Pascal Canfin. Instead, the French MEP argues for including nuclear energy in the 'transition' category.

Gas power plants overtook lignite in 2020 to become the EU's single largest source of power sector emissions, according to fresh analysis from energy think tank Ember.

Europe has set a clear goal for full decarbonisation by 2050, with renewables-based electricity set to become the dominant energy carrier, and that means fossil gas will have “only a marginal role” in the long run, EU climate chief Frans Timmermans said on Thursday (25 March). 

The European Commission is reconsidering the position of gas in its sustainable finance taxonomy by recognising the fossil fuel’s role in keeping the lights on during peak electricity demand, according to a leaked document seen by EURACTIV.

If Gazprom could be persuaded to increase gas transit revenues for Ukraine, that would give the Biden administration a reason not to impose sanctions to block Nord Stream 2’s completion and ammunition to fend off criticism from those who want …

To safeguard climate targets’ integrity against greenwashing measures, transparent rules should be in place, write Vlasios Oikonomou and Haris Doukas.

We need to face the reality that the future is no longer in fossil fuels and need to show credibility on that, said President of the European Investment Bank, Dr Werner Hoyer on Wednesday (20 January).

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.

The lower carbon intensity of natural gas – which produces half the emissions of coal when burned in power plants – and the emergence of new technologies like hydrogen are setting gas apart from other fossil fuels in the clean energy transition.

The European Parliament reached a provisional agreement with EU member states on Wednesday (9 December), which sees fossil fuels axed from the EU's just transition fund but finding their way back into EU regional development funding until 2025.

Experts disagree about which technologies should be used to meet the EU’s climate change targets.

In order to help the EU achieve its ambitious climate change targets and deliver on its clean energy targets in a cost effective manner, significant investment is needed in the energy sector.

The European Commission granted priority status to natural gas projects without properly assessing their impact on climate change, the European Union's Ombudsman said in a decision on Tuesday (17 November).

Power plants fuelled by natural gas will not be classed as “sustainable” or “transition” investments in Europe unless they meet emission limits which are so low that none are currently able to comply, according to draft EU rules seen by EURACTIV.

Climate neutrality translates into commitments undertaken by various industries, communities and other stakeholders. The European energy sector is already committed to be carbon neutral before 2050.

Power plants fuelled by natural gas will not be classed as a sustainable investment in Europe, unless they meet an emissions limit that none currently comply with, according to draft European Union regulations seen by Reuters.

The discovery in recent years of huge natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean has whetted the appetite of nearby countries but exacerbated geopolitical tensions between Turkey and its neighbours.

In his presentation of the German EU presidency's priorities, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) urged MEPs on Thursday (16 July) to be more realistic, particularly on renewable energy and relations with China. But he continues to believe that barring Huawei, as the UK recently did, is wrong. EURACTIV Germany reports.