In eastern France, dozens of villages turned off their street lights at midnight. Barcelona are making effective assessments at home. Warsaw is subsidizing homes to replace fossil-fired stoves with heat pumps.
With the war in Ukraine driving up oil and gas prices and Russian President Putin demonstrating a willingness to use Russia’s energy resources as weapons, towns and cities across Europe are finding new ways to make money. Different ways to reduce energy usage.
As the largest consumer of Russian gas in Europe, Germany may be the most vulnerable country before Russia’s energy squeeze, but many other countries are also facing, at least high prices and limited flexible foods.
The severity or lightness of the coming winter will be the key factor. Mild winters in Europe will reduce global gas demand, as will Covid-related shutdowns in China, the world’s largest gas consumer, will continue. Conversely, a harsh winter with extreme temperatures will increase demand and push prices higher.
But European countries can hardly wait to see how the weather develops.
Seeking to accelerate energy independence from Russia, Italy Algeria has been looking at Algeria as a potential new gas supplier, ramping up renewable energy sources and burning more coal to keep homes lit and businesses afloat.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, who has warned that the country should prepare for a total Russian natural gas cut, has said that to address the gas shortage, the government will prepare a measured conservation plan to limit energy use. He also noted that France’s large nuclear power industry makes the country less vulnerable than some of its European neighbours.
Mr. Macron speak in the first day of this month.
Earlier in July, French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne told lawmakers that France would re-nationalize the state-backed electricity giant, Électricité de France, which produces most of the country’s electricity. and operate all nuclear plants.
In Belgium, the government reverse a decision phase out nuclear power by 2025 and extend the life of the two reactors by another decade. And the Austrian and Dutch governments have taken steps to turn Charcoal energy source has been closed or is scheduled for removal. Those actions, however, have raised concerns that the European Union’s effort to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will be misguided.
Lawmakers in Poland have backed measures that would allow them to increase their gas storage capacity and relax fuel trading rules, Reuters reported.
UK National Grid made an assessment of its expected tight energy supply this winter, saying in a report that “while Britain is not dependent on Russian gas to the same extent as the rest of Europe, Europe, it is clear that stopping gas flows into Europe can have a direct impact, including very high prices. “
The organization released an unusually early forecast to help the energy industry prepare for the colder months to come, saying it will deal with expensive and unpredictable energy, along with any outages. any activity, by delaying the closure of coal plants.
National Grid also encourages greater participation in “demand-side response,” which seems to refer to the probable need for individuals to reduce or accept limits on usage. electricity.
