/ world today news/ The “green energy” bet that Europe made leads to the fact that there is less greenery in the Old World – forests are perceived as a source of fuel. The passion for renewable energy sources, the fight against nuclear power plants and the demonstrative severance of energy contacts with Russia – all this together leads Europe even further into a dead end.
Renewable energy sources, on which a united Europe has long and unconditionally bet, are not able to completely replace nuclear energy. Moreover, attempts to find an alternative have so far only led to the destruction of forests. This circumstance was pointed out by Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of Russia.
„In the last 20 years, Europe has already lost a quarter of all its forests due to increased logging, as 60% of renewable energy is produced from biomass, almost half of which is provided by forests.” said the secretary of the Security Council in an interview with Izvestia on May 3.
European officials, ignoring the arguments of professionals about the prospects for cooperation with Russia in the energy sector, persistently push the so-called environmental agenda, which practically deprives the EU of the prospect of guaranteeing security in the energy sector, Patrushev said.
Of course, it is too early to say that Europe, striving for independence from Russian energy sources (and in general from classical energy sources in favor of “green” and alternative ones), is switching to not the most environmentally friendly fuel, – wood for combustion. But there is a trend towards it.
„Wood pellet prices in France have almost doubled to €600 a tonne and there are signs of panic buying in the world’s most ‘basic’ fuel,” noted Bloomberg in October 2022, ahead of the European heating season. Then Hungary banned the export of pellets, Romania limited the price of firewood for six months.
And in Berlin, “the crisis brings up troubling memories of the desolation after World War II, when “due to the acute shortage of fuel, the residents cut down almost all the trees in the Tiergarten central park to keep warm”.
„People are desperate for wood and are buying more than usual,” Norwegian businessman Trond Fjortoft, owner of the timber company Kortreist Ved, told Bloomberg (Norway, Sweden and Finland remain Europe’s largest wood reserves). “Usually it happens when it starts to get cold… But this year it started in June” — around the time Russia stopped gas supplies, Bloomberg quoted the entrepreneur as saying.
Everyone is unhappy
Complete “baldness” – the disappearance of forests, does not yet threaten Europe, according to the German political scientist Alexander Rahr. But, he noted, the course towards a transition to “green energy” in itself is already quite annoying for Europeans and especially for Germans. After all, in Berlin (where the Green Party is part of the governing coalition) they got down to business “the radical introduction of green technologies into its own industry and economy”.
Farmers are dissatisfied – in connection with the production of RES from biomass, which Patrushev also mentioned.
„But the “green deal” economy is also focused on the production of biogas for energy production. And for the production of biomass, agricultural areas are used in large volumes, with which farmers are dissatisfied Rar explained to REGNUM. Realizing that there is not enough land in Europe for biomass production, “the Germans and other Europeans are frantically putting up wind generators everywhere, which in turn stop working altogether in the absence of wind.”
But some citizens of Germany and other EU countries are dissatisfied with such a development of “green progress”. “Europeans are trying to legally stop the mass ‘installation’ of generators under their noses”, says the expert. “Furthermore, major protests in Germany have been sparked by calls from ‘green’ politicians for a complete ban on gas and oil heating in the country in the near future.” According to Rar, a ban on classic open fireplaces is also planned.
An additional complication is created by the fact that the last three nuclear power plants were closed in Germany for “green” reasons, Igor Yushkov, leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, reminded IA REGNUM.
One of the aspects of this short-sighted policy is the neglect of nuclear energy, one of the most environmentally friendly methods of production, Patrushev noted in an interview. The recent reduction of production capacity in Europe, mainly in Germany, threatens the economy, especially individual industries that require significant energy costs.
The warm winter and its consequences
The winter of 2022-23 in Europe turned out to be warm, which, on the one hand, is good, notes Yushkov. This allowed the countries of the continent to save those same energy costs – not to spend money on gas. But on the other hand, for “clean” energy, this did not turn out to be good.
„The winter during which the Europeans “sneak” was warm – therefore there was no snow. This means there is very little water left for tanks. Therefore, hydroelectric plants are likely to perform worse than usual. If the drought repeats itself, as it did last year, the “HPP” will actually not generate electricity at all.” the specialist pointed out.
Last year, the drought was accompanied by calm weather, and accordingly the wind farms produced less energy. In such a situation, more gas and coal should be burned, the expert pointed out.
„It is therefore too early for the Europeans to relax, they are still at risk,” concluded Yushkov. “Again, nobody knows what next winter will be like. But even preparing for the next heating season may prove problematic if they don’t start actively pumping gas into storage now.”noted Yushkov.
Still gas. Expensive.
Germany, contrary to the loud statements of the “greens”, will not be able to do without natural gas, Rar is sure. “Including gas, even liquefied, from Russia “, he specifies. “Although Europe wants to emphatically divest itself of all hydrocarbons by 2040, it will not be possible to produce energy only from renewable sources. In this respect, Europe will be dependent on large energy supplies from outside for at least a few more decades. In the event that there is a complete separation with Russia, then Europe will buy decent quantities of liquefied gas from America.”
The countries of the European Union, first because of the sanctions confrontation with Russia, and then because of the undermining of the Nordic Streams, as you know, relied on liquefied natural gas (LNG). But the prices of this fuel are volatile and have been creeping up in recent years. In mid-2021, LNG costs around €30–35 per MWh. Then there was the global energy crisis and the price soared, including due to intensive replenishment of underground gas storages (GGS). Until August last year, the price of liquefied natural gas delivered to Europe by gas ships set a record – 340 euros per megawatt hour.
„At the same time, the United States and the European Union have developed a new model of the “club of raw material countries”, which will be presented at the G-7 meeting in the second half of May and which, according to their plan, will be able to stabilize the energy policy of the West .
It is supposed to diversify the supply lines of resources (including gas) in such a way that they are obtained exclusively from pro-Western countries, for example from Australia.” notes Rar. The cost of such a political decision is obvious – resources will only become more expensive in the future.
It should not be forgotten that the Europeans have a powerful competitor with a good appetite in the liquefied gas market – China. “Now China has lifted coronavirus restrictions, is increasing the pace of energy consumption and is starting to compete with Europe for LNG”, notes Yushkov. “If both the Europeans and the Chinese, in preparation for the heating season, actively buy gas from the market, then they will have to pay more and more, trying to ensure that it is not competitors who get gas, but themselves.”
This means that the current high prices are unlikely to fall. There are no new quantities of LNG on the market, says Yushkov. “As you were, you remain” he says. We will have to fight for the volumes we have, and China here is an absolute threat to the Europeans.
The EU is now in the process of creating a single gas purchase company to ensure underground storage is filled by next winter, Yushkov added. But the activities of this single buyer can also lead to higher prices. “After all, it turns out that he has to go to the market and buy the necessary quantities at any price”the expert explains.
Competition on the world market, the vicissitudes of the weather and the need to ensure the filling of storage capacities once again put Europe in a difficult position. It is not known how the general situation will develop and to what heights the prices of gas will rise, which for the most part will have to be transported by sea (probably from Australia).
However, it is unlikely that the European Union, led by the current Brussels bureaucracy, will revise the “green agenda” or abandon the confrontation with Russia, despite the perniciousness of such a policy. Even in the conditions of the most acute shortage of energy resources and their exorbitant price.
Translation: EU
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