Forbes: Europe Must Reduce Reliance On All Fossil Fuels, Not Just Russia's

Europe imports 39% of its gas and about a third of its oil from Russia. Much of that oil and gas travels across Ukraine. Given the ongoing political instability in the country, it is no surprise that energy security has once more risen to the top of the European Union’s agenda.

Having had Europe’s vulnerability to supply disruptions pointedly demonstrated, the European Commission has put forward a new European Energy Security Strategy. But in focusing just on reducing its reliance on Russia rather than on reducing its reliance on fossil fuels as a whole, it has missed the chance to join up energy security and climate policy.

The Commission does say that the EU, which gets another 55% of its gas from Norway and North Africa, should look for new supplies of gas within and outside the EU. While this may make sense in the short term, to really make its energy supplies more secure, Europe should be trying to expand its renewable energy capacity and reduce overall energy use by improving efficiency.
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