How well can Europe survive without Russian gas?

2023-04-21 15:28:11, Kosova & Bota CNA

The countries of the European Union have agreed to extend the deadline to reduce by 15 percent the amount of natural gas they use until the spring of 2024. As the correspondent of "Voice of America" ??Valentina Vasileva reports, the aim is to continue to reduce dependence theirs from Russian gas.

“The Old World is experiencing a cold snap; gas supplies are not enough to get through the winter.”

Lena Botanina is a Russian citizen who lives with her Austrian husband, Dietrich John, in Brussels. She shows him video clips from Russian state television.

"It's funny, but then again, it's a little bit sad. Because people are being actively deceived!” , says Dietrich .

When it became clear that the war in Ukraine would continue last winter, many were concerned about how Western Europeans would keep warm due to the region's dependence on Russian natural gas.

But according to the EU, they did so in part by cutting gas use by nearly 20 percent last winter. The weather also helped.

"It was a really warm and mild winter. We didn't need hats and hats or extra blankets," says Lena Botanina.

Electricity was more expensive across the EU, but many residents who could not afford to pay their electricity bills received subsidies from the authorities.

And according to the Brussels mayor's office, there have been reductions in street lighting and heating in schools and other public and government offices.

"We keep the temperature at 19 degrees Celsius in school classrooms, but in offices like this, it is kept at 18 degrees. In the swimming pools, the water is kept at 27 degrees," says Benoit Hellings, member of the Brussels City Council for Climate.

According to independent energy analyst Thierry Deschuyteneer, Europe has done well without the usual amount of Russian gas. EU governments found other gas suppliers. Last winter, the EU received gas from Norway, Algeria and Azerbaijan. Imports of liquefied natural gas, LNG from the US have also been on the rise.

"Last year, what happened and what helped Europe a lot was the decrease in demand for liquefied natural gas from China. China's demands would be met by American gas. This American gas was then shipped to Europe. So, in a way, China helped Europe."

But EU officials say cutting gas use is the only way to ensure EU countries have heating next winter.

"We proposed a target for this winter, the reduction of demand by 15 percent. Member States have gone beyond this. They have managed to reduce their gas needs by 19 percent," says independent energy analyst Thierry Deschuyteneer.

Experts hope that production of liquefied natural gas will increase worldwide in the coming years, stabilizing energy prices and imports in Europe.

The EU is also supporting alternative energy, with a plan to provide more than 40 percent of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2030./ VOA