How Europe can reduce its dependence on Russian gas
Summary
Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images Europes dependence on natural gas from Russia has given Vladimir Putin leverage over the European Union, making it hard to impose energy sanctions on the country as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine. The IEAs drawdown, aptly named "A 10-Point Plan to Reduce the European Union’s Reliance on Russian Natural Gas," is a collection of actions that will diversify Europes energy supply, accelerate its move towards renewables and focus on energy efficiency. Russias use of its natural gas resources as an economic and political weapon show Europe needs to act quickly to be ready to face considerable uncertainty over Russian gas supplies next winter," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a written statement announcing the plan. Currently, the European Union has a contract with Gazprom, a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation, for more than 15 billion cubic meters of gas imports per year. Domestic production of natural gas and imports from non-Russian sources, including from Azerbaijan and Norway, are set to increase over the coming year by as much as 10 billion cubic meters compared to 2021, which will help matters.