Science|Business: Balancing the Energy Economy 2: security of supply must not compromise CO2 targets

Policymakers in Brussels are banking on Energy Union as a way of addressing one of the EU’s biggest strategic weaknesses: dependence on imports from Russia.

A radical altering of this relationship of dependence is vital, said Marie Donnelly, the European Commission’s Director for Renewables in DG Energy. “Seven member states have a single supplier of gas and oil,” she reminded delegates at ‘Balancing the Energy Economy’ on Tuesday (20 January), a conference organised by Science|Business in Brussels. “In some cases, that’s 100 per cent of their supply,” she said.

But on the other side of the scales, cutting back fuel imports carries the risk of providing more headspace for the development of the ‘cheap but dirty’ coal market in Europe.

This is something which many people in Europe are wary about, said Philip Bowen, Director of Cardiff University’s School of Engineering. “People see security of supply as an attack on the low-carbonisation race,” Bowen said.

Read the full article HERE