The European Commission (EC) has come under fire for trying to weaken the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) following pressure from heavy industry and some Member States alike. Yet the jury is still out on how far the proposed changes really go and what the final outcome will be when EU legislators try to hammer out a final deal this autumn and winter.
Analysis
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An unpublished EC document explores direct public support for LNG projects overseas. But critics warn that doubling down on costly LNG imports might be a drag on the European economy and increase security vulnerabilities.
The UK government said in February that the country will leave the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) after the failure of efforts to align it with net zero, joining nine EU Member States including France, Spain and the Netherlands.
A new Nigeria-Germany gas export deal has raised concerns about potential impact on decarbonisation targets.
Just weeks before the start of COP28, the UK government approved the Offshore Petroleum Licensing bill, which envisages annual oil and gas licensing rounds.
In France, a gas boiler ban was introduced in 2022 for new buildings, but boilers are still used by more than 11 million sites for heating purposes.
The Groningen gas field was closed on the back of rising concerns related to earthquakes linked to production activity.
News
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With gas demand in Europe in long-term decline, the EU has access to sufficient supplies in both the short and long-term. That means that contracts for additional LNG are not needed, and only increase stranded asset risk.
Businesses could cut industrial natural gas consumption by more than 50 percent with investments of €9.5 billion, a new paper estimates.
A new report finds that EU levies on imported methane could help clean up gas operations, but may also lead to a two-tiered global LNG market.