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If the key components of the European proposal are carried out, Russia’s struggle in Ukraine may have an enormous, albeit unwitting, consequence: It may hasten Europe’s transition away from fossil fuels.
“The developments within the vitality markets during the last months have underscored the need to speed up the clear vitality transition and scale back completely our dependence on imports of pure fuel,” the draft doc states. “Diversifying provides, frontloading renewable vitality and enhancing vitality effectivity is one of the best insurance coverage towards value shocks.”
To cut back Europe’s reliance on Russia, a number of new infrastructure is being constructed to soak up liquefied fuel from america and elsewhere. In Europe, as my colleagues Liz Alderman and Stanley Reed instructed me lately, L.N.G. import terminals are already being expanded in Belgium and Poland; a brand new one was lately accepted in Greece with European Union funding; Germany this week fast-tracked the development of two new import terminals.
In america, my colleague Clifford Krauss famous, a brand new L.N.G. export facility is scheduled to begin working in Calcasieu Move, La., this yr; expansions are underway in two Texas export services; and a further 10 export initiatives are into consideration. Practically 1 / 4 of American L.N.G. exports went to Europe in 2021. Over the previous few months, Europe has been the highest vacation spot for U.S. exports.
So, may Europe survive with out Russian fuel subsequent winter?
A latest evaluation by Bruegel, a suppose tank primarily based in Brussels, suggests it may, however not with out decreasing demand, altering laws and spending much more cash. Some Europeans appear to be taking motion to guard themselves. Electrical warmth pumps, one of the cost-effective methods to interchange gas-fired boilers, unfold swiftly in Europe for the primary time in 2021, although nowhere as quick as is critical, as Jan Rosenow, a director on the Regulatory Help Venture, explained in a Twitter thread this week.
Britain, in the meantime, has stated it intends to proceed drilling in its a part of the North Sea, however its secretary for enterprise and vitality, Kwasi Kwarteng, said this week that his nation’s vitality safety would in the end have to come back from renewables, which in Britain consists of nuclear energy.
“It might be full insanity to show off our home supply of fuel,” he stated on Twitter. “However the long-term answer is apparent: Gasoline is dearer than renewable vitality, so we have to transfer away from fuel.”
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