ENERGY SECURITY. To Quit Russian Gas, EU Invests Billions in LNG
ENERGY SECURITY
To Quit Russian Gas, EU Invests Billions in LNG
By Julia Merk and Michel Penke - Published 20 December 2022
The European Union is investing billions in infrastructure in its effort to replace Russian fuels with liquefied natural gas. This could prove to be a dead end — both for taxpayers and for the?climate.
On March 5, just over a week after Russia invaded Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed concern that the Kremlin might turn off the bloc’s gas tap. “The?EU?must get rid of its dependency on fossil fuels,” she wrote on?Twitter. Von der Leyen then praised Spain, which she called “a frontrunner here, with its large renewables share and?LNG?capacities.”??
It?would not be the last time?that von der Leyen?appears to have placed?liquefied natural gas?within the category of?renewable energies. The problem is that?LNG?is also a fossil fuel: It is pumped out of the ground — in some cases fracked — and in the end burned in ways that are destructive for the climate. This conflation by von der Leyen, who spearheaded the?European Green Deal, the?EU’s road map to decarbonization, could cost the bloc ecologically and?financially.
At the?Economist’s Sustainability Summit?in March,?UN?Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called fossil fuels “a stupid investment, leading to billions in stranded assets.” Countries must “accelerate the phaseout of coal and all fossil fuels,” Guterres said. “This is madness. Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction.”??
And yet the?EU?is currently investing billions of euros into fossil fuel infrastructure that will either become obsolete or much more expensive to maintain if the bloc does not intend to further exacerbate the climate crisis.??
LNG?Is Booming and Costs Are High?
The largest gas consumer in the?EU?is Germany, followed by Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia and France, according to Eurostat. These countries are now trying to replace their gas imports from Russia with supplies from other sources.??
“Since the beginning of the war,?LNG?imports to Europe have increased by 58%,” said Paula Di Mattia Peraire, a gas analyst with Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS). Because of this,?Germany, Greece and Italy in particular — as well as Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Poland — are expanding their infrastructure to receive?LNG.???
“There is a lot of investments going on in Europe regarding?LNG,” Peraire said. “If all these projects materialize — around 15 new projects till the end of 2024 — that will bring the regasification capacity up by 70 billion cubic meters per?year.”?
A particularly large amount of government money is flowing into coastal terminals where cooled?LNG?is offloaded and heated until it can be injected into pipeline networks. Currently, there are too few of these terminals — especially in the North Sea and Baltic Sea — to meet the European Union’s gas?needs.
Furthermore, instead of flowing from east to west,?LNG?gas will have to flow from Spain, France and the Netherlands to Central and Eastern Europe. However, as gas pipelines are mostly one-way streets, a “reverse flow” is only possible to a limited extent. The German capacities, which are geographically central within Europe and therefore key to the network, would have to be at least doubled for this to happen, according to the?Fraunhofer Institute.??
Another heavy toll would come in commissioning a fleet to ship gas to Europe.?LNG?tankers, easily recognizable by their spherical tanks, can hold up to 175,000 cubic meters?of liquefied gas, the equivalent of 90 million cubic meters of less-dense pipeline gas. So, to replace the annual 167 billion cubic meters?of Russian gas, about 1,800 shiploads — or five per day — are needed for the European Union. According to the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics, this would require 160 new tankers at a unit price of $220 million (€212.5 million), for a total of $35.2 billion.??
‘An Emergency Now’?
The European Union has announced its intent to become?climate-neutral by 2050. Germany is?aiming for 2045. If the?EU?burns more?LNG, however, emissions will?rise.?
“We have an emergency now,” said Ganna Gladkykh, who researches clean-energy transitions for the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA). “Even the International Energy Agency says there should be zero fossil fuels investment, zero investment in fossil fuel infrastructure. Then we will be able to reach the climate goals.” The?EU’s pumping billions of euros into gas infrastructure is contrary to that. “It does not make sense to invest in?LNG?and in Europe particularly,” Gladkykh?said.?
High-Cost Hydrogen Hopes
Gases produced in climate-friendlier ways are intended to mitigate the problem. Instead of fossil gases, ammonia and especially liquid hydrogen are to be processed within a few years.?Should that happen, the stated intent is to repurpose the tankers, terminals and transit pipelines for the new fuels — a plan many are skeptical?about.
“Whenever they say the infrastructure is hydrogen-ready, this is the way of comforting the public,” Gladkykh said. “The story line that policymakers are selling is that: ‘We invest in?LNG. We are aware that it’s fossil fuels. But don’t you worry … it will become greener, because we will have improvement in hydrogen technology and then we will just receive hydrogen through?it.”?
Because hydrogen is more explosive and therefore more dangerous, the transition would require different alloys and materials — as well as “a significant additional investment,” said Rainer Quitzow, research group leader at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies. “The switch to hydrogen is not settled,” he?said.??
The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that the additional cost of replacing pumps, valves, instrumentation and safety systems could be as much as 20% of the cost of building an?LNG?plant. The current tankers and terminals could not handle hydrogen, which must be transported and stored at -260 degrees Celsius (500 F) — 100 C cooler than?LNG.?
In addition, all hydrogen must first be generated sustainably by wind power or solar energy and transported to Europe, where the elements are insufficient to meet the?need.
Quitzow said he saw “a risk if we build infrastructure that no longer makes sense if we want to achieve our climate goals.” That would come at the expense of efforts to slow warming. “Once you have terminals and plants,” he said, “it might be hard to get away from them — precisely because you have invested so heavily.”??
Pipeline vs.?LNG: Which Is Worse for the Climate?
The conventional extraction of natural gas releases fewer emissions than fracking. Unlike Russian pipeline gas, gas from Qatar or the United States must first be liquefied before it can be transported. To do this, the gas is compressed by pressure and then “depressurized” again, cooling down further each time. In the process, as much as 8% to 25% of the energy yield is lost through the operation of the compressors.??
Then, the?LNG?has to be shipped across the ocean. The longer the distance, the bigger the carbon footprint. Gas from Australia shipped to Europe would have five times the “climate transport costs” of gas from?Algeria.
Russia’s?LNG?Plans on Hold
Russia intends to liquefy and sell gas, as well. But, even in the event of a swift end to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s share of the gas market within Europe is likely to continue to decline for political reasons. The Kremlin will most likely have to write off its multibillion-dollar gas pipeline infrastructure to the European Union and turn its attention to a need for liquefaction plants and terminals for Russia to send gas to countries such as China and Japan.??
International sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine will limit Russia’s ability to assemble the necessary technical infrastructure, however. Most Western partners abandoned their cooperation with?Russia.
EU?energy independence
In their respective?reports, scientists at the think tanks Agora Energiewende?and?E3G?calculate how the European Union could reduce its gas demand and become independent of Russia within “one to four years.” Twenty percent could be replaced by implementing the European Commission’s?“Fit for 55”?plan. Another 45% could be achieved through heat pumps, insulation and an expansion of green energies. Just 35% would then have to be imported from other countries, amounting to about 50 billion cubic meters of gas — for which the existing infrastructure is sufficient.??
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Julia Merk is data journalist at?DW. Michel Penke is an investigative data journalist at?DW.?This?article, which was Edited by Henrik B?hme and Milan Gagnon, is published courtesy of?Deutsche Welle (DW).
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Microsoft seeks to bring internet to millions in Africa by satellite
Microsoft has announced plans to deliver internet access through satellite to 10 million people, half of whom will live in Africa, as part of its initiative to bridge the digital divide with the?developing world.
At a Summit with African leaders in Washington, DC, hosted by President Joe Biden, the tech giant said it would commence the satellite project immediately, prioritising internet connection for the first time to Egypt, Senegal and Angola.
Microsoft announced plans to extend its operations in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and provide internet connectivity in more remote parts of the United States, Guatemala, and Mexico, in collaboration with satellite service provider Viasat.
This collaboration expands on ViaSat and Microsoft Azure Space’s current connection to enable breakthroughs in satellite communication. It supports Microsoft’s mission to?link?anybody, anywhere on the earth.
By the end of 2025, the programme wants to provide Internet connectivity to a quarter of a billion people worldwide, including 100 million people in Africa. This historic global cooperation for Airband is a crucial step in that direction.
Smith believes the biggest impediment to internet connectivity is the lack of reliable energy.“It’s hard for people who don’t go there or don’t think about Africa for a long time even to conceive it,” Smith said. “Electricity is, in my opinion, the greatest invention of the 19th century.
When it comes to broadband, he explained that you need energy to access the internet at any speed.
Because the continent did not have the same “amazing web of licencing regimes” in place from the past, Smith sees widespread support in Africa for introducing internet access. He added that many countries had advanced past their Western counterparts in ease of regulation.
According to the International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, a third of the world’s population, or 2.7 billion people, have never utilised the internet.
There are now more possibilities for traditional connectivity in rural regions thanks to satellite Internet access.
Together, the businesses pool their knowledge and resources to make telehealth, online education and training, precision agriculture, sustainable energy, and other services possible to reach new markets through the revolutionary delivery of connectivity and electricity.
Microsoft and Viasat will work together to develop and test technologies, such as fixed wireless and satellites (both in geostationary and low Earth orbit).
“We think having internet access is a fundamental right. Having digital skills helps people, businesses, and governments succeed economically. We want to provide 100 million people in Africa with high-speed internet access through our AirBand initiative. By 2025, a quarter of a billion people will live in locations with limited or no access to the internet, “Vice president of technology and corporate responsibility at Microsoft, Teresa Hutton, said.
“We’ll deploy satellite technology in collaboration with Viasat to reach remote locations that previously had few alternatives for traditional connectivity. We will create a vast pipeline of initiatives and new nations together. We’ll be able to quickly scale up and increase the Airband’s range thanks to the invention,” She continued.
Airband Initiative Supports SDG
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations include universal, affordable internet access. By concentrating a large portion of their new partnership on Africa, Microsoft and Viasat will offer connectivity and digital literacy to improve healthcare, education, and economic productivity. Possibilities in essential marketplaces.
“As both organisations collaborate to close the digital divide and make substantial strides toward digital equity, we are happy to join with Microsoft as this represents another crucial step in bringing inexpensive internet service to Africa, Latin America, and the Americas. Inclusion,” said Ivan Dixon, head of Global Fixed Broadband, Viasat.
“continues to break down barriers.” “Providing Internet connectivity to everyone on the planet is a difficult and audacious objective, and accomplishing so ethically and ecologically will create enduring possibilities for those who need it most.” More is required, He added.
Microsoft’s Airband Initiative Local?partnership
More than 51 million people have access to high-speed Internet through AirBand thanks to Microsoft and its partners, including more than 4 million in rural US areas and 16 outside the US that were inaugurated in 2017.
Forty-seven million more people reside in underdeveloped and neglected nations. Microsoft’s Airband Initiative partners with local and regional Internet and energy access providers, telecommunications equipment manufacturers, non-profits, and government and non-governmental organisations to provide affordable internet and pertinent digital services globally.
Increased availability of skills According to Microsoft, everyone has a fundamental right to access the internet.
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