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Pushing EU countries to adopt unlikely net zero targets may slow down energy transition

Oil&Gas Materials 19 April 2022 12:01 (UTC +04:00)
Pushing EU countries to adopt unlikely net zero targets may slow down energy transition
Laman Zeynalova
Laman Zeynalova
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 19. Pushing EU countries to adopt unlikely net zero targets may slow down energy transition, Douglas Rycroft, director at UK consultancy Gneiss Energy, told Global Voice of Gas, Trend reports.

“With economies only beginning their recovery from the impact of the pandemic and critical mass still a long way off in terms of reliable supply from renewables, a more balanced approach is clearly needed,” he says.

Rycroft points not only to the economic but also the environmental benefits of leveraging native gas production.

“European regulations for safety and emissions are among the strictest in the world while local supplies can reduce our emissions footprint compared to long maritime journeys for oil and LNG,” he says.

“Utilising domestic gas in conjunction with carbon capture and storage and, eventually, hydrogen, presents an opportunity that the EU itself has called ‘sustainable.’” Rycroft cautions that while “there’s no harm in being ambitious, pushing countries to adopt highly unlikely net zero targets is likely to lead to more confusion and volatility that may end up slowing the energy transition.”

In its REPowerEU plan, the commission said it would “assess as a matter of priority whether measures and investments are needed in hydrogen-ready gas infrastructure and interconnections to overcome bottlenecks to the full use of the EU’s LNG capacity.”

But while calling for increased biomethane and hydrogen production over the next decade, it makes no mention of expanding domestic supply of natural gas. There are early signs that member states might take steps to bolster local production, however. Germany’s government, for example, has called for increased extraction at home as part of its energy diversification plan, with its finance ministry in mid-March calling for the country to rethink its ban on new North Sea oil and gas drilling. Outside the EU, the UK is set to resume offshore oil and gas licensing later this year and is reviewing the case for onshore shale gas development.

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