Europe's Gas Dependency

Description:

The European Union consumes 1,825 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) each year to feed its transport and industrial sectors, commerce and private households.<br\> At 37 per cent, oil remains the most intensively used product in the EU's fuel mix, followed by natural gas (24 per cent), solid fuels (18 per cent), nuclear (14 per cent) and renewable sources (7 per cent). Of the approximately 438 Mtoe of gas that are consumed by the EU's 27 countries each year, about 40 per cent comes from member states such as the Netherlands and Britain.<br\> The remaining 60 per cent is imported from four big suppliers: Russia, Norway, Algeria and Nigeria. Of these, Russia is by far the biggest, accounting for 42 per cent of the EU's gas imports, equivalent to about a quarter of its overall yearly needs.<br\> Experts predict that energy consumption is set to increase, with the share of natural gas as the EU's primary energy source likely to surge to 34 per cent in the coming years.

Enablers:

• Alternatives need plenty of money and time, and most are fraught with political difficulties.<br\>
• No political consensus

Plans by the European Commission to earmark 5 billion euros in unspent EU money on improving energy interconnections between member states have come up against opposition from some member states.

The EU is also politically split between those who favor closer ties with Russia - such as Germany, France and Italy - and those who treat Moscow with deep suspicion - among them Britain, Sweden, Poland and the Baltics.

• Gazprom insistence that it should be allowed to invest in downstream European energy distribution networks, stoking European fears of even greater reliance on Russian controlled gas.

Inhibitors:

• Research into alternate sources of energy
• Increasing use of Nuclear energy for electricity

Paradigms:

Europe's dependency on Russia for gas has far reaching consequences. The

Timing:

Europe's natural gas needs have been increasing steadily over the last 50 years. However, production within the EU has not increased at the same rate.

Web Resources:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/250537,background-europes-gas-dependency.html http://www.foreignpolicydigest.org/20080811169/Regional-Archive/Europe/Russia-Archive/the-other-energy-crisis-europes-increasing-dependence-on-russian-natural-gas.html