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EU fight over role of natural gas ends in compromises [GasTransition]
Jan 14, 2021 7:15:am
Summary The month of December saw an intense struggle within the EU over the role of natural gas in the energy transition coming to a head. The predictable result: several compromises with some wins and some losses for advocates of natural gas. [Gas Transitions Volume 2, Issue 1]
by: Karel Beckman
With support for coal and oil definitely ruled out under EU policymaking, the debate over the future of fossil fuels now centres squarely on the role of natural gas. According to climate campaigners, only investments in renewable energy are compatible with the Green Deal, the overarching instrument by which the EU intends to achieve its 2030 and 2050 climate targets of -55% emissions and net zero emissions respectively. In their vision, renewable energy includes “green” hydrogen, based on renewables, but excludes any role for “blue” hydrogen, based on natural
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.
On Friday, the European Council, which brings together the EU’s 27 national leaders, adopted a new greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030: -55% from 1990 levels, up from the previous target of -40%.
In their conclusions, the leaders reaffirmed that it will be up to each member state “to decide on their energy mix and to choose the most appropriate technologies to achieve collectively the 2030 climate target, including transitional technologies such as gas.”