When it comes to the EU Green Deal and the EU goal of becoming the first-climate neutral continent, hopes and ambitions are high. However, decisions encouraging the use of fossil fuels under the form of natural gas are threatening the pace towards the transition. Dr. Iain Todd and research assistant Alexandrina Rotaru give four recommendations on how countries in Eastern Europe can modernize their gas exploitation in the Romania Journal.
Natural gas is encouraged by the fossil fuel industry and coal-reliant Member States as it can be seen as ‘bridging fuel’ to replace more pollutant sources of energy like coal and oil. People promoting the use of natural gas also argue that the infrastructure of natural gas can be used cleaner forms of gas like hydrogen in the future. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that these arguments may not hold. Researchers argue that gas might be equally or more polluting than coal. Also, an infrastructure for hydrogen may never pay off because production of clean hydrogen made from renewable sources is not yet financially feasible.
In spite of these risks, gas is still a vital resource for certain EU states like Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. In order to reach the best cost-benefit ratio for both their economy and the environment, countries relying on gas should respect a series of recommendations:
1. Offer priority to the modernisation of the gas production and distribution systems as to ensure a limited risk of methane leaks.
2. Perform cautious extraction of natural gas so that methane emissions in the process are kept at a minimum.
3. Invest in renewables as to ensure the increase in scale of decarbonized hydrogen.
4. Invest in research and development on how to scale up production of clean hydrogen.
Read more about controversies surrounding natural gas at the EU level here.
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Dr. Iain Todd and research assistant Alexandrina Rotaru are part of the strategic research pillar Global Social Challenges.
