Energy consumption is linked direct to economic activity. According to Eurostat the most significant drop in European energy consumption – 5.8% – occurred in 2009 and is attributed by the agency “to a lower level of economic activity as a result of the global financial and economic crisis”, although in general the consumption of energy continues to grow […]
A key factor in current gas policy is the fight for the European gas market, which is becoming increasingly politicized. It is very evident that this market requires substantial re-structuring, linked to the consequences of American sanctions policy and changes in the system of gas transport routes, even if not all the transport options announced […]
German politicians’ faint hopes that the administration of new US president Joe Biden would replace wrath with favour have been dashed by an icy Transatlantic reality. Washington continues to take an intransigent stance and threaten European participants in the project with sanctions. But Berlin is still trying to withstand the pressure and save face, by […]
With the warmer months when gas storage facilities are usually filled for the next winter approaching, Europe is struggling to find ways to replace Russian gas with potential alternatives. Attention is naturally turning to Norway, the second largest gas supplier to the continent.
Spot prices for gas in Europe reached a historical high on 21 December 2021, exceeding $2,000 per thousand cubic metres of gas for the first time. By the end of January 2022, the price of gas had experienced a double downward correction. The situation in the European gas market remains complex however. According to Emily […]
The situation in the European energy market is extremely complex and multi-layered in nature. On the one hand, there is a politically motivated battle to oust Russian energy resources and thrust politically motivated conditions for supplying hydrocarbons on Russian companies. On the other, the United States seems to have set itself the goal of developing […]
The situation that has developed around Nord Stream 2 in recent months has become so confused that one almost wonders whether the pipeline exists at all. European politicians mention the project so often though, that one would think it had been operating and pumping billions of cubic metres a year to the European Union for […]
The European Union’s new Arctic strategy, published in October 2021, contains the statement that “the EU is committed to ensuring that oil, coal and gas stay in the ground, including in Arctic regions.” In order to achieve this goal, Brussels intends to secure the introduction of a ban on developing new oil, gas and coal […]
This winter, soaring energy prices have aggravated the economic burden for European businesses and residential customers alike. While solar and wind plants are falling short of satisfying energy needs, another factor has proved to be a shortage of reserves of natural gas and other fuels. Hydrogen could become an alternative major source of green power. […]
Groningen is one of the largest gas fields in the world, and was a source of prosperity for the Netherlands for over half a century. For several years now, however, it has been nothing but a serious headache for the Dutch government. Coronavirus and failures in energy transformation could hinder the field’s decommissioning. Why the […]
It is entirely mistaken to call the present situation a “European gas crisis.” Its significance goes far beyond simply the problems in regulating the gas market. What we are seeing is a full-scale energy crisis, which in fact has wider potential: all segments of European energy have structural problems. The gas power sector has simply […]
2021 has seen issues relating to the environment becoming a key topic throughout the world, perhaps even displacing coronavirus, which has been the dominant theme of the last two years. In the context of an unusually cold winter and a hot, dry summer, which brought disaster and destruction in their wake virtually everywhere in the […]
The environment was a crucial theme in Germany’s 2021 election campaign and predictably, the Greens want to make it central to the coalition agreement. What exactly the country’s new energy policy will look like, taking into account the country’s accelerated switch from coal power is however as yet unclear even to ministers themselves. It is […]
The construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), one of the most large-scale international energy projects, was launched in Provence over thirty
