EU Associations Call for Clean Gas Support

European energy industries and gas and power suppliers have jointly urged the European Union to make renewable and decarbonised gas a central pillar of the economic recovery plan for after the Covid-19 crisis. They said "the large-scale and rapid decarbonisation of gaseous energy must be one of the priorities of the recovery period."

In an April 20 letter to members of parliament, the European Commission and others, they also called for measures which would help the swift economic recovery for affected sectors, possibly including an economic stimulus package for developing and deploying a variety of clean energy technologies.

They said these will be key in achieving the EUs climate objectives in the coming stages of the energy transition as well as provide Europe with export opportunities for its own climate technology, products, and services worldwide.

The 13 industry associations who signed the letter – including the Natural Gas Vehicle Association, Cogen Europe, EUTurbines and Gas Infrastructure Europe – urged EU institutions and national governments to continue to support the EU climate neutrality target in 2050 and fully support the recent call by the European Commission to place the European Green Deal at the heart of the EU’s recovery plan.

Eurogas secretary-general, James Watson said the pandemic "represents a major challenge for Europe. The best way to meet this challenge is to prioritise the Green Deal and place renewable and decarbonised gas technology development at the core of the recovery plan. The EU is best in class when it comes to such climate technologies, with a predominantly European-based value chain and there are huge employment and financial opportunities in this sector."

Gas demand is six times greater than electricity demand in Europe while wind and solar meet 12% of the demand, and the extensive pipeline network does not need rebuilding to carry biogas or synthetic gas. There are no commercially viable carbon capture and storage or use (CCUS) projects yet operational in Europe for tacking natural gas, although the letter says that Europe is leading the way in CCUS, as well as in biogas and hydrogen.

In a Eurogas webinar broadcast April 20, two of the speakers said the Green Deal should be revisited in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic.